A NEW SUNRISE
by Moti1981
Summary: Bella thought Edward was her soulmate, but then he left her and she found out she was having a baby. What happens when they unexpectedly meet again? Will Bella forgive him? What happens when Edward finds out he's been a father for 6 long years?
1. Chapter 1

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

**_HELLO EVERYONE! FIRST OF ALL THANX FOR READING!! THIS IS MY SECOND ATTEMPT AT WRITING A FANFIC..I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! THIS IS JUST THE FIRST CHAPTER AND I PROMISE THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF MORE TO COME. I LUV REVIEWS SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!_**

A NEW SUNRISE

I thought we had been perfect for each other, soul mates, if such a thing ever existed. I had been so in love with him, he had been my sun and my moon, my everything. I met Edward on my first day of classes after I moved to Forks. I felt awkward enough being living with my dad again after so many years, now I had to be the new girl at school too. But I never would've thought that day would be the first day of the rest of my life.

As soon as I stepped into my homeroom class, I already made new friends. By lunch time, I had learned all of their names. There was gossipy Jessica, sweet Angela, bitchy Lauren, smart Ben, jocky Mike, and crazy Tyler. I was laughing and enjoying myself, not paying attention to anything else, until I saw them. They were walking past our table and I couldn't stop staring at them. The blond girl looked like a top model, she was strikingly beautiful. And she knew it; she walked without noticing anyone else in the room, like she owned it. The guy holding her hand was the biggest guy I had ever seen, but he had the sweetest smile and he was looking at the blond girl with adoration.

"That's Emmet Cullen and Rosalie Hale." Jessica whispered to me. I immediately looked down and blushed. Not daring to look at Jessica.

Then I heard the most tingling laugh coming from the door and gasped. The most pretty, pixie like girl was laughing with her hand on a gorgeous blond blue eyed guy. They looked deeply in love and couldn't take their eyes off each other. I was brought out of my reverie when I heard his voice.

"Hey Jazz wait up man! I need you to honestly help me with that essay." And then Edward came into view. I stopped breathing altogether then. What was it with this school and its students? I lost myself in his dazzling green eyes and that perfect crooked smile. I saw him put his arm around the blond guy's shoulders and grinned at the girl.

"And those are Jasper Hale, Alice and Edward Cullen. It's ok you know, we all reacted the same way the first time we saw them. I mean, Rosalie and Jasper have been here the same as we have, but the Cullens joined us just last year. It was a big commotion." Jessica giggled.

"They're nice Jess, well, all except Rosalie who doesn't talk to anyone." Angela chipped in.

"And maybe Edward who thinks he's better than the rest of us human males." Mike smirked.

They continued talking about them, filling me in. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen had moved into Forks last year bringing their three foster kids with them. Rosalie had soon started dating Emmet and a little bit afterwards Jasper and Alice became an item too.

I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking after lunch, immerse in all the information I had received and still thinking about those green eyes, when I suddenly bumped into someone. A pair of honey-brown eyes looked back at me smiling.

"I'm really sorry, I wasn't paying attention." I said without realizing who was in front of me. I kneeled down to pick up my books when she spoke to me.

"You're Bella right? Hi, I'm Alice. It's very nice to meet you." She said offering me her hand, which I shook still dazed by her.

"Nice to meet you too Alice. I'm sorry I made you drop your books, I wasn't looking." I tried really hard not to blush, but I knew it wasn't working when she giggled.

"Is everything ok Al?" that was his voice; he was standing right behind me. I couldn't make myself turn around.

"Everything's fine Edward, just meeting Bella here. This is my brother Edward. Edward, this is Forks newest resident, Bella Swan." Alice smiled at me. Apparently she knew more about me than I was aware of.

"Oh right. The new girl. Ok, see you soon Al, bye." He said and walked past us and into a room where I soon followed.

What was his problem? He had sounded really really rude. I got angry. I know it was foolish, I didn't even know the guy. But he had been the first person no to be nice to me that day and it affected me more than it should. It was worse when I found myself seated next to him. It was going to be a long year. We worked in complete silence for the next couple of weeks. I still don't know why, but Alice and I became sort of friends. She always said hi every time we passed each other in the halls or at lunch. She was crazy about fashion and we laughed a lot at our English class. Jasper soon started talking to me too, given Alice's insistence. And then one day she invited me to sit at lunch with her.

Alice made all the introductions to Emmet and Rosalie, he grinned at me, while she merely glanced my way. We were laughing at something Emmet had said when I felt him behind me.

"Hey little bro, I guess you have already met our guest, Bella." Emmet said smiling at me.

"She's Alice's new pet." Rosalie said still not looking at me.

He sat down next to Emmet and glared at Alice. "What's she doing here Alice?"

"Oh be nice Edward. Bella and I are going to be the best of friends." Alice said pouting at him.

"Yeah, Alice, whatever."

"What's your problem with me?" I didn't even know I had spoken out loud until I felt all the eyes of the table on me.

"Excuse me?" Edward glared at me.

"I was just wondering if something bit you or if you're just this rude by nature."

"Classic!" Emmet roared with laughter.

I could feel the heat on my face, but I was really angry. Who did he think he was? What gave him the right to talk to me that way? As much as I liked Alice, I was not going to put up with her idiot brother. He still hadn't said a word. I stood up and took my food tray.

"Please excuse me. I'll see you in English Alice." I walked away without even a single glance back at the table. I clearly didn't belong on that side of the cafeteria.

I was sitting down at Biology looking at my notes when I felt him sit down beside me. I had totally forgotten I had class with him next. I didn't look up one single time during the whole period, but just when it was about to finish, a tiny white paper was put in front of me.

_I don't have a problem with you and I don't want to fight with my sister. I'm sorry._

I looked at him then and he was looking away. I smiled. At least he had apologized, sort of. When the bell rang, I stood up and turned his way. "Isabella Swan, nice to meet you." He looked at me and smiled. I felt my knees go weak.

After that we became friends, if that is what you can call it. We chatted every day at class, he even invited me to sit with them at lunch, and then we were inseparable. He asked me to go to our junior prom with him that year, and that's when he finally kissed me. I had wanted him to do that for so long. I was the happiest girl on earth that day. The day he told me he loved me I thought I would burst with happiness. So my life seemed perfect now. Or so I thought.

Meanwhile, I had been reacquainted with Jacob Black, a friend from childhood. We saw each other every Sunday when our father's got together to watch sports or fish. Edward had been a little jealous of Jacob at first, but he soon understood there was nothing for him to worry about.

"You love him, don't you Bella?" Jacob asked me one day while we were at a BBQ in his dad's house.

"Yes, I love him very much Jake." I smiled.

"If you need anything Bella, anything, a friend, a shoulder to cry on, someone to go beat him up, you know where to find me."

"I know Jake, but everything's just perfect. I'm really happy."

Jake was my dearest friend. I knew he was just looking out for me and I appreciated it.

So while Edward and I became a serious couple, his family had accepted me as one of their own too. I spent a lot of time with Alice and their mother Esme. We would go shopping, and to the movies when the guys were hiking or playing baseball. I was really having fun. Every time I called my mom at Jacksonville she'd get a little jealous that I liked spending time with Esme so much. My mom and her crazy ideas.

Things started changing around the time of our senior prom. Edward had gotten a little demanding in regards to our physical relationship. I was simply not ready. As much as I loved him, I was too nervous to take this next step. There would be no turning back after that. So Edward had been al little edgy on our prom day. He picked me up at 8:00pm looking stunning.

"You look really beautiful Bella." He kissed me and put a corsage on my hand.

"You look very handsome too. I love you." I said smiling at him.

"Ready to go?"

"Let's do this."

We had been dancing and having fun with our friends, when I felt this urge to just kiss Edward and not stop. He looked beautiful, gorgeous, full of life and so hot. We were kissing and kissing and kissing. And then we started to do more than just kissing. Until Emmet coughed hard and we broke apart.

"Wanna get out of here?" Edward whispered to me. I could barely hold myself standing so I just nodded. I don't regret what happened afterwards, but I still have a hard time when I think about it. It was awkward and it hurt, but I was so in love with Edward that all that didn't matter. We went back to his house, since Dr. Cullen and Esme had gone to Seattle for the weekend.

He carried me up to his room and I just felt like a princess. I was happy to have waited for him. It all felt right, and so perfect. He kissed my neck, my eyebrows, my lips, while he unzipped my dress. I started unbuttoning his shirt while I kissed him back. We lay down on his bed and I started shaking.

"Are you ok Bella? Am I hurting you?" he looked into my eyes and I saw all the love and passion he felt for me reflected in his dazzling green eyes.

"No, I'm fine. I love you Edward." And that was it. We made love peacefully and with no rush. Taking the time to know each other's bodies completely and just loving, without reservation. That's why the events that followed that wonderful night, were unimaginably shocking, to say the least.

Prom had taken place about 3 months before graduation, so we still had a lot of studying to do before it was all over. Edward and I had made plans to attend the University Of Washington, since we both didn't want to leave so far away from our families. But all that changed the day Edward told me his family, and that included him, were leaving. Dr. Cullen had gotten an amazing job offer at the County Hospital in Chicago and they had to move right away. The job offer included scholarships for his kids at East Coast universities; it was the opportunity of a lifetime, as Edward described it.

"But we were going to go to college together." I cried into his arms as he held me tightly.

"I know, but there's nothing I can do about it Bella, please understand. My parents won't let me stay and it's an enormous help for them not to have to worry about paying my school tuition. We can make this work." He hugged me and kissed my head.

"You'll forget about me."

"I won't. I swear I won't. And soon, we'll be together again. I promise." He kissed me and I didn't want to let go.

But they left. All of them. Alice cried with me and hugged me tightly as we were saying goodbye. She had been my best friend and now I was losing her too. It was just not fair. Emmet had to transfer schools, but he was happy to do so, since know he would be very close to where Rosalie was already attending. Jasper was attending school with Rosalie, so it worked out perfect for Alice too. I was the only one being left behind. My parents could never afford to send me to an East Coast school. So I stayed, crying my soul out after Edward.

A week afterwards, I started getting sharp cramps. I wasn't feeling good at all, and to add to that, I had only spoken to Edward twice. He had claimed to be very busy trying to organize all the credits he needed to be able to graduate. I decided to go to the doctor.

"Bella, I have your test results." Dr. Gerandy said looking at me seriously.

"Is something wrong with me Dr?" I asked scared as I saw his face.

"When was the last time you had your period?"

"I'm not sure. I've been having a lot of studying to do and I haven't been paying attention." I blushed not looking at him.

"Well, you should've been paying more attention to it Bella. You're pregnant."

"What?!" I shrieked sitting up straight.

"You're almost two months pregnant. I have urine and blood test confirming it." He raised a folder showing it to me.

I could feel myself growing paler and paler by the second. I must've heard him wrong. I couldn't be pregnant, it just wasn't possible. We had used protection, hadn't we?

I tried calling Edward as soon as I got home. What were we going to do now? I was 18 years old, what was I going to do with a baby? And Edward didn't even live in the same state as I did! It was disastrous. I couldn't reach him at his cell phone, he was not picking up. I tried and tried and tried, but it was no use.

I emailed Alice and asked her to please contact me as soon as possible. A day later, I still had no reply from her. So I tried Edward's phone again. This time someone answered.

**_SO...WHAT DO YOU THINK??? I KNOW WE DON'T LIKE EDWARD LEAVING BELLA...BUT IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN..._**


	2. Chapter 2

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

**Thanx very much for all your reviews!! I luv that u guys are liking the story…I hope I don't disappoint anyone with this second chapter. Let me know what you think!!**

**CH.2**

This time someone answered.

"Hello? Who is this?" an unfamiliar, feminine and very drunken voice said.

"Can I talk to Edward please?" my heart broke a bit when I heard another girl answer his phone, but I didn't want to jump into any conclusions so fast.

"He's busy. Can I take a message?"

"It's really important. Please put him on the phone." I hated that my voice was so shaken. I sat down on my bed and closed my eyes to try to calm down.

"Hey sexy, there's a girl on the phone for you!" I heard her yell. I was still trying to process that she had called Edward 'sexy' when I heard his voice.

"I told you I'm not available Kim! For anyone!" I dropped the phone as I felt tears start streaming down my face. This couldn't be real.

All I could think of was what had I done for Edward to stop caring? Had he forgotten me so quickly? Hadn't he loved me at all? I suddenly felt stupid. It seemed that I had been the only one to believe Edward and I had a relationship still. Were we supposed just to forget about each other now that he was on the other side of the country? What had happened to the last year and a half? And more importantly, what was I going to do now?

There was really only one thing I could do. I had to confront my parents. I couldn't do this by myself and they'd find out pretty soon anyway. Oh my God! I realized. The whole town would find out pretty soon too! I started sobbing then. Everyone was going to say I was just another stupid teenager who got pregnant by her high school boyfriend. Such a cliché. Jessica was going to have a gossip party with this. I couldn't stop sobbing, and that's how Charlie found me a few hours later.

"My God Bella, are you ok? What's wrong honey?" he hugged me and helped me to the couch. He just sat there rocking me and patting my back. I buried my face on his chest while I continued sobbing. When I finally calmed down, he put his hands on my face and kissed my forehead.

"Whatever it is honey, I'll make it better. I swear." He stroked my head.

"You can't dad. I'm pregnant." I blurted out looking down at my clasped hands.

"Oh well, we'll just…..WHAT?!" I felt him jump from the couch and then he just stood there glaring at me.

"I'm sorry dad. I'm so so sorry." I covered my face with my hands and started crying again.

"How…who…when…Shit!" he sat down beside me again. I then felt his hand on my arm.

"I don't know what to do dad. I'm so scared."

"Have you talked to him yet?" his voice sounded strained but he wasn't yelling anymore.

"I don't want to talk about him ever again dad. I'm on my own." I looked at him steadily to make my point clear.

"That little punk! Wasn't he supposed to be in love with you?" he started yelling again.

"Dad that's not important right now! I'm having a baby! Focus please!" I yelled standing up and glaring back at him.

I was suddenly in his arms, crushed into his chest. And then we were both crying. He sat and dragged me unto his lap, while he stroked my hair.

"What do you want to do Bella?"

"I can't stay here now dad."

"I understand. Everything changes now. You need to call Renee."

"Yeah, and I guess college will just have to wait another year. I've got other priorities now." I put a hand over my still flat belly.

"I'm really going to miss you honey."

"I'll miss you too dad. And please, if he ever calls, I'm not home. Tell him whatever you want dad, just don't tell him about…the baby." I touched my forehead to my dad's chest, while he rubbed my back.

"If that's what you want. Count on it." I felt him kiss my head.

And so that's how the rest of my life started. Both my mom and I cried throughout the whole phone conversation. And so it was decided. I was going to go live with my mom and her husband Phil at Jacksonville, Florida. She was going to help me raise the baby and I couldn't ask for more. It was still sad to leave Forks and dad and my friends and Jake. Jake! I had to see him before I left.

"Bella hi." He said hugging me tightly once I stepped into his garage.

"Hey Jake. I uhh…I came to say goodbye." I looked into his eyes and smiled at him.

"Where you going Bells?" he said grinning at me while he got back to work on his car.

"I'm leaving Jake. I'm moving to Jacksonville with my mom." I whispered and that made him look up. He walked closer to me and raised my chin so that he could look into my eyes.

"What happened?"

"Will you promise not to say anything, to anyone, ever?"

"I promise. Now tell me, why are you leaving?" I sat down at the counter and he followed me, sitting down beside me and taking my hand in his.

"I'm having a baby Jake." His fingers tightened around mine. "I just found out last week. So I'm graduating and moving in with my mom. She's going to help me raise the baby and then…well…then I'll just see what happens. I can't stay here anymore."

"But I am going to miss you Jake. You're my best friend." I hugged him.

"Does he know?" was all he asked me.

"No. And I don't want him to. He's no longer part of my life." I lay my head on his shoulder.

"Fine. You'll be a great mother Bells, you'll see. And I'll be there to help you as much as I can too. Hell, I'm going to be an uncle!" he smiled at me.

"Sure you are Jake." I smiled at him. I loved having a best friend and even more if it was Jacob. He was the brother I never had.

That was basically how my life at Forks ended. I hugged dad and Jacob tightly at the airport, while tears spilled over my eyes. I saw that dad and Jacob had tears in their eyes too. I was really going to miss both of them so much.

My graduation ceremony hadn't been any different than any other normal graduation ceremony I guess. So nothing really exciting to remember about it. I hugged all my high school friends, who were suddenly wondering why I had decided to change my college plans. Mom needed me, was all I could come up with.

It was the longest flight ever. I got nauseous twice on the plane and afterwards felt weak and disgusting about the whole morning sickness issue. Being pregnant, not such a comfortable thing. No sooner had I exited the baggage claim area when I felt a pair of arms around me.

"My poor baby." Mom sobbed while she hugged me.

"Hi mom. I missed you too." I hugged her back.

"Everything's going to be just fine honey, you'll see." She smiled at me through her tears.

"I know. Thank you again mom, for doing this."

"You're my daughter Bella, my baby. Of course I'm helping you. It's what mothers do. They take care of their children. You'll soon feel the same way." She smiled at me, touching my face. I closed my eyes and hugged her tightly.

Mom helped me get settled into her house. Phil had bought me a new bed and night table and mom had bought all the bed linens and chosen the wall colors. She told me she hadn't bought anything else so that I could do that myself. It wasn't until I started unpacking that I realized this was really happening. I was having a baby. Edward's baby. No, he wasn't Edward's baby, he was just my baby. My beautiful, precious little baby.

_We were dancing. He was smiling at me and we were dancing like we had never done before. It was Prom night and we were laughing, just enjoying ourselves. I saw Alice and Jasper with their arms around each other smiling at us. Emmet and Rosalie were standing next to them holding hands and smiling too. Then I saw Dad, and Jake and Dr. Carlisle and Esme? What were they doing at Prom? I looked at Edward and he was crying. _

"_What's wrong Edward? Don't cry." I touched his face._

"_I'm sorry it had to end this way." He closed his eyes and lowered his head._

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_Goodbye Bella." And he was gone. I turned around looking everywhere. There was no one in the room. I was all alone._

"_No! Come back! Edward don't leave me please!" I cried running around looking for him._

_And suddenly a pair of strong arms caught me and held me tightly. _

"_Bella it's ok, I'm here, I'll always be here. You can count on me." Jacob said. But he wasn't the one I needed. _

I woke up crying as I usually did. I had been having the same dream over and over for some months now. And I always woke up crying. The dream had changed though. At first, no one ever showed up at the end, and I would wake up sweating and hyperventilating and some times screaming. Mom would get really scared when that happened. But Jake had decided to come visit one weekend and after that, it was always him at the end hugging me and comforting me. But he was not the one my heart desired.

I was huge now, or so it seemed to me. I didn't like it. I couldn't walk right, had to pee a lot and couldn't sleep well. Aside from that, my pregnancy was going pretty fine. The doctor said it was a very normal pregnancy and that if I took care of myself the way I was supposed to, everything would turn out ok. So that's what I did. I wanted this baby now more than ever. It didn't help that I was depressed all the time.

Mom went with me to my first Lamaze class, so she was there to see me break down: my baby's father was the only one not present. I didn't return to class after that. Even though I tried not to think about him at all, it was hard to realize that I was going to have to raise a child by myself. Sure, mom would be there to help me, but I just didn't feel complete. I doubted I ever would.

I had started to help at a day care center close to our house during the mornings. They had been very kind to allow me to go there and help take care of the babies and toddlers, since it would be like practicing for when my baby came. I learned all the baby rhymes and lullabies, and how to change diapers and give them their bottles, how to put them to sleep, and bathe them. It was a very beautiful experience, though I have to confess that at first I was going crazy with all the crying and the dirty diapers. I soon learned to manage that and things began to go just fine.

And then one morning, I was changing one of the babies' diapers, when I felt a sharp pain on my lower back. I hadn't felt anything like that before. I sat down carefully and started taking deep breaths. I had felt cramps before so I was sure it was that again. I didn't give it much thought and continued with what I was doing. After a few minutes I suddenly felt dizzy so I had to grab onto the back of a chair to keep my balance. What was wrong? I felt the baby moving, but aside from that, I felt nothing strange. I sat down on the couch and laid my head back.

"Bella, honey is everything ok?" Cindy, the manager asked me sitting down beside me.

"I'm just a bit tired I guess."

"Can I help you with anything?" she touched my forehead.

"No, I'll just go home and rest. I've been working a lot and I think it's taking a toll on me." I sat up.

"Come one, I'll help you. Do you want me to walk you home? Or better, do you want me to call your mom so she can come pick you up? I don't want you wondering around by yourself." Cindy helped me up.

"No, it's ok. It's a short walk."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine Cindy, honestly. Just a little dizzy."

"Dizzy? That's not normal Bella. Have you felt anything else today? Any pain at all?" she looked concerned so I answered honestly.

"Umm…yeah, a little while ago I felt a sharp pain on my lower back. I think it's just cramps again. Oh…there's another one…this one's stronger." I clenched my teeth and took deep breaths.

"Oh Bella. Honey I think those aren't cramps." She smiled at me.

"What do you mean? What are they then?" I was scared.

"I think you're going into labor sweetie." She patted my hand.

"What? No, it's not time yet. I still have three more weeks until the baby's due. It's too soon." I panicked.

"It happens. There's nothing to worry about."

"I want everything to be perfect. It's too soon." I grabbed her arms tightly while tears came to my eyes.

And then I felt it. The sharpest and most excruciating pain that could ever exist. I think the whole neighborhood was able to hear me screaming. I couldn't seem to stop. I probably scared all of the babies because suddenly I started hearing all this crying around me. Cindy was doing all her best to try to calm me down, while one of the other women was calling my mom and 911.

I could hear the sirens in the distance, as I felt a hot liquid slide down my legs. I was afraid to open my eyes.

**OH…THE BABY'S COMING! THAT'S ALL I'M SAYING FOR NOW ******

**I PROMISE TO HURRY UP WITH CH.3…THANX AGAIN FOR READING!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**U GUYS R AMAZING!!! THANX SO SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!! I'M ENJOYING WRITING THIS STORY SO I'M VERY HAPPY UR ENJOYING IT WITH ME. **_

_**U WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENED WITH EDWARD, SO I A SMALL GLIMPSE…SORRY TO SAY HE'S NOT COMING BACK JUST YET…**_

**CH.3**

I opened my eyes slowly. I felt all sore all over and extremely tired, as if I was recovering from a beating or something similar. As soon as I saw where I was, everything came back to me. It had been a weird, but wonderful day. A lot happened and in so little time. What I remembered the most about it, was that I screamed a lot. I think I had never screamed so much in my whole life. And then there was my beautiful baby.

I don't remember the ride to the hospital. I just heard voices all around me and my mother whispering in my ear that everything was going to be just fine. As soon as we got to the hospital we were wheeled into the delivery room. I just kept screaming the whole way.

Suddenly a nurse who was writing all my personal information got my attention, "would you like us to wait for the father honey?"

I stopped screaming immediately and glared at her. "There is no father." I managed to choke out. I would not think of him, I wouldn't.

"I'm sorry…I didn't know…" the nurse looked at my mother with an anguished look on her face.

"It's ok, we know. Thank you." Mom smiled at her, while they both got me all settled up on the gurney.

"Ok, Isabella, it's time to bring your baby into this world. Are you ready?" the doctor asked while he put his gloves on.

"Please just make the pain stop! I can't take it anymore!" I screamed grabbing the edge of the gurney to sit up.

After a lot of pushing, screaming and cursing from my side, I finally heard my baby crying. I let out a loud breath and collapsed unto the gurney. I closed my eyes and felt my mom kissing my forehead and smoothing my hair.

"Congratulations Isabella, you have a beautiful baby girl." The doctor said patting my knee, "she appears to be completely healthy, but since she was born a few weeks premature, we're taking her right away to the NICU just to check her up." I just nodded.

"Oh honey, you did it. You were so brave, I'm so proud of you." Mom touched her forehead to mine while we both cried.

I still couldn't believe I had pulled through all that. I smiled at my mother sleeping in the chair beside my bed. She looked so peaceful. I could never repay her for everything she was doing for me at that moment. She was really the best mother I could've wished for. There were never recrimination words from her part, she never criticized me for what had happened, never a negative comment. All the time, she had been 100% supportive of me, and I loved her so much for that.

"Mom, wake up."

"Hmm…Oh! Hi honey! How are you feeling?" she jumped up from the chair and took my hand in hers.

"I'm ok mom, a little bit sore, but ok." I smiled at her.

"You were so brave Bella, you behaved so well. I remember I wouldn't let them wheel me into the delivery room if they didn't give me something for the pain first."

"Well, you were always a spoiled girl mom." I laughed, squeezing her hand.

"Knock knock. May we come in?" dad said from the doorway. Jacob was right behind him.

I knew they couldn't stay away. Turns out mom had called Charlie as soon as I went into labor and he had called Jacob. Then both of them had gotten into the next available flight and now here they were. Mom was telling them all about how brave I had been during the entire labor thing, when a nurse arrived holding a little bundle in her arms. Everyone stopped talking then and turned to look at me. I sat up straight and then the nurse put the baby in my arms.

"She's a very peaceful little one. Most of them are not like that. You're lucky." She smiled at me.

"She's so tiny and so soft." I whispered as I traced my finger over her tiny arms and face. I couldn't believe she had come from me; she was a part of me.

"When she wakes up, try feeding her. Do you have a name yet?" the nurse said.

"Umm…I read a name in a book that sounded pretty interesting to me: Nessa, as in short for Vanessa I guess. But I'd liked it to be something like Nessie, to make it softer." I smiled at her.

"It suits her. Welcome to the world Nessie." Dad said getting closer to the bed.

And then the most wonderful thing happened, Nessie yawned and slowly opened her eyes. I was holding her towards me so at first I was the only one to notice her eyes. Her bright, tiny, gorgeous, and familiar dazzling green eyes. And then I noticed all her features altogether. She didn't have much hair yet, but it was reddish blonde, similar to how mine had been as a kid, but her skin color and most importantly her eyes, it was all Edward. I wasn't aware of the tears until mom kissed my head.

"Bella, what's wrong honey?"

"Her…her…eyes…" I managed to say, "Edw…Edward."

"Oh my God baby." Mom carefully put her arms around me while I cried.

"We're here Bella, we'll always be here." Charlie said standing close to me on the other side of the bed.

"And you know you can count on me for anything Bells." Jake patted my leg.

Mom made them both leave the room when it was time for me to feed Nessie. She helped me arrange the pillows so that I could be comfortable, and showed me the right was to place the baby and how to hold her. After that, she left too. I guess she wanted to give me a moment alone with my daughter. My daughter. I had a daughter.

"Hi Nessie, my sweet and beautiful Nessie. I'm your mom." She had her eyes closed as she sucked unto me, she looked so peaceful. "I've been waiting for you a long time. I'm really happy we can finally be together. And I promise you Nessie that we'll always be together. I will protect you every day of my life. And we're going to be great friends too. I love you my pretty daughter, I love you more than anything else in life."

I was back home the next day. As I placed Nessie in her crib, I still marveled at how peaceful she was. She would cry only when she wanted to be fed, but aside from that, she slept the whole time and was always so quiet, pretty unusual in a newborn. Mom, Phil, Dad and Jake bought me a lot of baby stuff on the following days. Nessie had now new clothes, new toys, a million diapers, and blankets. I was very grateful and tried not to complain at all when they all wanted to hold her the whole time. I just wanted her to be comfortable and get all the rest she needed.

Dad and Jacob stayed for a couple more days and then it was just mom, Phil and me. Phil had been away traveling while Nessie was born, but as soon as he got back he started helping mom and me with anything we needed. He'd do all the grocery shopping and all the house chores, just so that mom could have all her time free to help me.

A few months later I was back helping at the daycare center. Everyone agreed that spending a couple of hours there in the morning would actually help me take better care of Nessie. I would take her to the center with me of course, since mom was back at her job too. Cindy was happy to have me back so she didn't complain at all to have one more baby to look after. Then one day, I was coming down the stairs, having put Nessie to sleep, when Cindy told me I had a visitor waiting for me in the living room.

I couldn't see the face, only the back of a dark haired head on the couch, but I knew that posture. I would know it anywhere. Alice.

"Alice." She stood up slowly and turned around to face me. She looked even more beautiful than I remembered. "What are you doing here? How did you find me? Why now?"

"I've been looking for you for almost a year. Do you know how afraid I've been, wondering what happened to you?" she waved her hands in the air, "I dreamt something was changing, something was not right. So as soon as I got back from the cruise I tried to…"

"Cruise? What cruise? What are you talking about?" I still hadn't moved at all.

"Jasper's and Rosalie's family invited Emmet and me to a cruise during the summer. We flew to Miami and spent two wonderful weeks cruising around the Caribbean with them. When we got back, and you wouldn't answer your phone..I started to freak out!"

"I lost my phone." Was all I thought to say.

"That explains that part at least. Anyway, I wrote to you tons of emails to see if you'd reply, but you obviously didn't. So I left a bunch of messages in your answering machine and finally Charlie answered one time. He told me that you were not in, but that you were ok. I didn't believe him Bella. I kept trying to contact you through emails, but when I still got no answer, I decided to fly to Forks and make sure with my own eyes that I wasn't going crazy." She got closer to me. I could almost smell her perfume.

"You went all the way to Forks, just to check up on me?" This was all so confusing.

"Of course Bella, you're my best friend; al thought dad's not going to be happy at all with my credit card bill. I was just so scared. But no one knew where you were. I went to Washington University and asked around, but there were no records of you ever attending there. Edward wouldn't speak to me, so I did the only thing I could think of, I went and sat on your front porch until Charlie finally decided to put all my craziness to rest and told me where you were. And so here I am." She was now standing right in front of me, her hands on my shoulders.

"I never got your emails." I whispered, feeling tears in my eyes, and willing them not to fall over.

"Bella what happened? Why did you leave? Why didn't you ever called?" her voice was breaking.

"I wrote you, and I never got an answer from you, so I thought maybe you all had new lives and just didn't want anything to do with me anymore."

"How could you ever think that? Mom was so worried too, you know she loves you. And Edward…he just…was so angry at everyone and left for school right away, he…"

"Don't talk about him please. I don't want to know anything, not about him." I closed my eyes and then I felt her arms around me.

"I don't know what happened between the two of you, but I can't lose you over him Bella. Please don't shut me away." She was crying now.

I hugged her tightly. Oh I had missed her so much. And I so wanted her in my life. I just couldn't let her in all the way. She could not know about Nessie, not yet. If she found out, she wouldn't be so ok with not telling her brother. That much I was sure of. So I told her the story everyone back at Forks knew.

"My mom was having a very bad time with Phil travelling so much. She got really depressed so I came down to help her and be with her. She's better now, but I like living here, so I've decided to apply for school down here. I may be staying for a while."

"That sounds good, you being with your mom. I know how much you always missed her. So, can I still be your best friend?" she smiled at me.

"I wouldn't want it any other way Alice. I love you and I've missed you so much too." I hugged her as we both cried as a couple of kids.

I gave Alice my new cell phone number and we promised to stay in touch regularly. And then she left. She had only come to check up on me, and she had a plane to catch. It didn't matter, I had my friend back. Even if I wasn't being completely honest with her, and even if I knew that when she finally found out about Nessie, she would hate me.

After Alice's visit, I decided to ask Charlie what I had dreaded to know for a while. Had Edward ever called?

"Yes, he did. Two times." He sighed.

"Oh."

"The first time I told him that you weren't home, that you were out with Jake. The second time he sounded angry, and he was making me angry too, so I just blurted out that you no longer lived in Forks and that he should stop calling. I guess he believed me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think you'd want to know. And then when Nessie was born, and I saw you so upset at the hospital, I couldn't tell you. He never asked me how he could reach you, or asked anything else about you. He didn't sound very upset about not being able to talk to you. I'm sorry honey."

"It's ok dad. I guess it's for the best. Don't worry." I hung up after we talked for a few more minutes. I had to stop thinking about Edward. It was obvious that he had gone on with his life without giving me a second thought, so I was determined to do the same.

So my life went on watching Nessie grow every day. She was such an alert and sweet baby. Her smile would make my day. Mom and Phil doted on her. We had a good life so far. I decided to apply for school when Nessie was a year old. She was comfortable enough with Cindy to stay there while I went to class. Things looked as if they were all going to work out just fine. I couldn't be more pleased. Although I always felt like something was missing. I would get asked out on dates, but as soon as they found out I had a daughter, well, let's just say that I eventually lost interest on going out with anyone.

The first time Nessie called me ma, the first time she walked, those were my most precious memories. Jake became Uncle Jake, dad became grandpa, Phil was Uncle Phil, I became mommy and mom, well, there was no way she wanted to be called grandma, so she became Mamma Ren (Nessie totally made that up). Dad would come spend thanks giving and Christmas with us in Florida. It seemed that Nessie had made my parents start getting along for real this time, they were once again good friends. I loved that idea.

The year Nessie turned 6, I was already a teacher at the preschool she attended. We were now living by ourselves in a small house near my mothers'. Everything was going on ok, until dad got sick. He called to say he wasn't going to be able to come down for thanks giving and that got me really worried. When I told Nessie, she started crying.

"But I wanna see grandpa mommy." She hugged me tightly.

"I know baby, but it's a really long flight and he's not feeling very well. We'll see him for Christmas." I rocked her while she calmed down.

"Can't we go to see him instead? Please?" that sweet voice, so full of sorrow, almost got me crying.

"No honey, that's not possible. I'm sorry." I kissed her head.

Nessie's hair had turned darker, it was just my same shade right now. But those eyes, they hunted me every day. And her smile, she smiled just like him. She had his nose too, straight and perfect. It was disconcerting and it always spooked me how much of him she had inherited. She was beautiful.

We were at my mom's one afternoon when I got a call from an unknown number.

"Hello, is this Isabella Swan?" a woman asked.

"Yes, this is her. What can I do for you?"

"I'm calling from Seattle's County Hospital. Your father Charles Swan, had a heart attack last night. He's stable right now, but we need you please to come over. You're listed as his only relative and there are some things we would like to discuss with you personally."

"My…dad…had…a heart…attack! Oh my God!" I yelled as mom came running into the room.

"As I said, he's stable right now, so don't worry."

"Ok, ok, I'll be on the next flight. Thank you." I hung up as mom put her arms around me.

"Is he going to be ok?" she asked me.

"That's what the woman said over the phone. But I need to get there."

"I can take care of Nessie honey, you go on ahead and make sure Charlie's ok."

"No mom, I need her with me. What if…what if dad…" I couldn't bring myself to say the words. But what if it was the last time Nessie could see her grandfather?

An hour later I had us booked into the next flight for Seattle. Seattle, oh my God. Well, it wasn't Forks, but close enough to still make me nervous. It had been seven years since I had last been in Washington. And now I was going back, with my daughter on top of things, to see my sick father. It was just too much.

_**Ok guys, hope you liked this chapter…the fun is just starting so please hang on there!!! I love hearing from you!!! **_


	4. Chapter 4

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**HEY GUYS!! I'M SORRY I TOOK TOO LONG TO POST THIS NEXT CHAPTER, BUT I HAD EXAMS LAST WEEK AND HAD TO STUDY A LOT SO I HONESTLY DIDN'T HAVE ANY TIME LEFT!!! I'LL TRY NOT TO KEEP U WAITING SO LONG AGAIN!!!**_

_**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR ALL UR AMAZING REVIEWS! AS I SAID, THE FUN IS JUST STARTING AND FOR THOSE OF U WHO WANT DRAMA..OH LET ME ASURE YOU THERE WILL BE ENOUGH DRAMA *WINK* **_

_**OK, HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS ONE!! IT'S NOT SO EXCITING AT THE BEGINNING, BUT IT PICKS UP..I GUARANTEE IT!!**_

**CH.4**

I couldn't stop thinking about Charlie. We were flying to Seattle. Nessie was fast asleep, her little head resting against my shoulder. I had tried to explain to her in the best way possible what had happened to her grandpa, but she sensed it was something serious right away. She had hugged me tightly and cried softly into my shoulder asking me if he was going to be ok. I had tried to calmed her down and reassure her that he was in very good hands and that we were going to be there too and help him get better.

I hadn't been able to get a hold of Alice. We had continued being friends throughout the years, talking by phone at least once a week or emailing. Even if we weren't able to see each other so often, I treasured her friendship and was really happy for her when Jasper had finally asked her to marry him. They were on their honey moon right now. I emailed her with the news about Charlie. I knew she would've wanted to know. Don't ask me how, but I had managed to keep Nessie's existence a secret from her this whole time, even the couple of times she had come to visit during the years. I still dreaded the day she'd find out I had been not only lying, but keeping her from knowing her niece.

"Mommy, are we there yet?" Nessie was looking at me with those dazzling green eyes of hers.

"A couple of more hours and we'll be in Seattle." I kissed her head.

"Ok, I don't wanna be on a plane anymore." She whined resting her head on my shoulder again.

"Hey, you know who's going to pick us up at the airport?" She turned to me excitedly.

"I know, Uncle Jake!" she bounced up and down on her chair.

"How did you know?"

"Mamma Ren told me." She giggled. I laughed and hugged her. She was just so perfect.

Once the plane landed, I had to run after Nessie to keep her from just bolting out the terminal's doors. We had to pick up our luggage first. I was really nervous. Once I stepped out of the airport, everything would become real. It was not only Charlie's heart attack, but the fact that I was so close to Forks. I had avoided visiting Charlie in all these years for the same reasons I was hesitating now, I was completely scared. I saw Edward in Nessie every day, but knowing that I was so close to where everything happened, it was a whole other thing. I was mainly scared of all the memories. I might appear to be a tough person on the outside, but I was just a scared 25 year old girl on the inside.

"Mommy, mommy, isn't that my suitcase?" Nessie tugged on my sleeve bringing me back to the present.

"You're right. Let's go get it baby." I took her hand and after getting all of our stuff we walked out of the terminal and into Jake's opened arms.

"Nessie!" he picked her up and ruffled her hair.

"That tickles Uncle Jake." She giggled.

"You're so big kiddo. I guess you are eating all your veggies as you promised huh?" he smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Of course she is. It's so good to see you Jake. Thanks for picking us up." I hugged him.

"Anything for you Bells. I'm happy to see you; I just wish it was under other circumstances." He sighed holding me tightly.

"I know." I felt my voice shaking.

"Come on, the car is this way." We started walking away from the airport. I couldn't help but looked back with a bit of anxiety. "wanna go get some ice cream kiddo?"

"I'd love to Uncle Jake!" Nessie squealed and smiled brightly at Jake. I was glad she had stopped frowning and silently thanked Jake for keeping her thoughts away from Charlie.

We went to McDonald's, Nessie's favorite place ever. She was just such a typical little kid when it came to food tastes. But then it was time to go to the hospital. As we were walking along the white corridors of Seattle's County Hospital, I couldn't help the feeling of sorrow that filled me. I had wasted so much time not seeing Charlie more often. I just hoped it was not too late to fix that. Nessie walked quietly beside me. It was her first time in a hospital.

"Mommy, why is everything so quiet?" she whispered, her eyes opened widely while she stared everywhere.

"Because there are patients sleeping and trying to get better baby. So we have to let them rest, so that they can be strong again." I squeezed her hand and she smiled at me.

We stopped in front of the door to room number 115. Jake turned around and looked at me and smiled. Then he knelt down in front of Nessie.

"Nessie I want you to listen to me." She nodded not taking her eyes away from Jake. "You're going to see a lot of wires and machines around grandpa Charlie, but I want you not to be scared ok? He's resting and all those things are helping him get better. I know he's going to be very happy to see you, so we have to make him feel comfortable and not get him sad ok?" he kissed her forehead.

"Ok." She simply said.

"Thank you." I whispered to Jake while he opened the door.

All the words Jake had said didn't prepare me for what I saw inside. Tears spilled over my eyes at the sight of Charlie in that hospital bed. He looked so small and fragile. His skin looked paler than mine, which was a lot to say. He had dark circles under his eyes and his breathing was faster than normal. This wasn't right. He was the chief of police, a tough and strong man. Men like him just didn't get heart attacks.

"Mommy are you ok?" Nessie asked me squeezing my hand. I looked at her scared little face and whipped the tears from my face, trying to smile to her.

"Yes baby, I'll be ok. Don't worry." As I was saying this, Charlie opened his eyes.

"Bella?" his voice sounded all raspy and hoarse. I ran to his side and took his hand in mine.

"I'm here dad. How are you feeling?" I kissed his forehead. Jake and Nessie walked on to the other side of the bed.

"I've been better Bells. But I think I'll be ok." He squeezed my hand.

"Hi grandpa." Jake had carried Nessie so that she could look at Charlie. She smiled at him.

"Hi sweetheart, look at you. You're so big!" dad touched Nessie's cheek as she kissed her hand. "Thank you both for coming."

"Dad, what were you doing in Seattle?"

"I was helping the guys with a case. I had had a similar one a couple of years ago and they wanted my opinion. It was just a lucky coincidence it happened while I was here, this hospital is one of the best."

"Yes, thank God." I sighed.

After a couple of hours, Charlie's doctors came to check up on him. It seemed he was completely stable, but they wanted to do a couple of more tests to rule out any risks of future attacks. Charlie tried to argue with them, saying he wasn't going to get any more attacks, but I convinced him it was for the best.

"Miss Swan, can I speak with you outside for a minute?" Dr. Roberts asked me.

"Sure, I'll be right back Nessie. Stay here with grandpa please." She nodded. Jacob had had to go back to La Push for the night. Nessie and I would be staying at a nearby hotel.

"Miss Swan, I know your father seems to be getting well pretty fast, but I wanted to assure you that he will need assistance for a while until he's 100% his old self."

"I understand Dr."

"I'm not sure you do. What I mean is that he will need a lot of rest at home before he's able to go back to work, especially with his type of job. And also, he has to change his diet. One of the reasons this attack happened, is all the greasy food he's been eating over the last years. He has to start eating healthy. If he doesn't change this and take good care of himself, I assure you he will have another heart attack and maybe next time he won't be so lucky." I could feel the tears in my eyes, so I just nodded and looked down.

"I'm not saying this to scare you Miss Swan, it's just that he's a very stubborn man and I need you to make him see all of what I just told you. It's really important." He looked seriously at me.

"Thanks for telling me all this dr. I won't leave his side until he's completely recovered." The implications of what I was just agreeing to hit me hard. I would have to stay home with Charlie and help him around. Whether I wanted to or not, life was making me go back to Forks.

A few days later, Jake and I had gone to check on some of Charlie's health insurance documents, while Nessie stayed with Charlie in his room. We were just coming back to the room when we saw the door was open and I could see the back of two heads. One was the familiar head of Dr. Roberts, but the other one I didn't recognize. He was blond and looked younger than Dr. Roberts. But then he spoke. I grabbed Jacob's hand tightly and gasped. His voice was one I had heard plenty of times before.

"Charlie, it's nice to see you again after all these years." Jacob was looking at me weirdly as I just shook my head and closed my eyes.

This couldn't be happening. What was Carlisle Cullen doing in Seattle?

"Dr. Cullen, I didn't know you worked here." I heard Jacob gasp when he heard what Charlie said. I looked at him desperately. Nessie was inside that room too.

"I see that you two know each other." Dr. Roberts said.

"Yes, I used to live with my family in Forks up until some years ago." Carlisle explained.

"That's good to know. Maybe you can help me Carlisle; Charlie here is a very stubborn man when it comes to taking tests." They all laughed.

"I'm sure I can help." Carlisle said.

"Grandpa, where is mommy? I'm hungry." I heard Nessie's sweet voice and sighed. Here we go, I thought. And I wasn't wrong.

"Grandpa?" I heard Carlisle ask. That's when I decided I'd had enough of listening.

I walked into the room followed by Jacob. I gave Charlie a desperate look and then walked towards Nessie. I smiled at her and picked her up.

"Mommy where have you been? I'm really hungry. Can we go to McDonald's?" she put her head on my shoulder.

"Yes baby, we'll go in a little while." Then I turned to look at Carlisle. His face was indescribable. He was surprised, shocked and looked taken aback by it all. I tried to give him a genuine smile. "Hello Carlisle, it's been a long time."

I felt Jacob's arm go over my shoulders and I quietly thanked him for it. He was being my best friend in all the ways possible. I knew what he was trying to make Carlisle believe, and I wasn't sure if it was right, but I didn't know what else to do. If Carlisle was smart enough, he would figure it out by looking at Nessie closely. She didn't look like Jacob at all, and him being a Native American, if she had really been his child, she would resemble him a lot.

"Bella, yes, it's been a long time. You look amazing." He said after a few awkward minutes.

"Thank you."

"And you're a mother. Wow. I…I had really no idea. Alice never mentioned…I mean, I knew she kept contact with you, but she never…" suddenly he seemed really uncomfortable.

"She doesn't know, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her." I looked down.

"Of course." He said.

After a few more minutes they left. I sighed and felt Charlie squeezed my hand softly. I couldn't believe Carlisle was here. Why did this have to happen now? Wasn't he supposed to be on the other side of the country? Why hadn't Alice said anything? As if by magic, she called.

"Oh my God Bella I just got your message! How is Charlie doing?" she sounded really frantic.

"Hey Alice, he's getting better and better each day thank you. He really scared us all." I smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that. I guess you already saw Carlisle, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I just did actually."

"I'm sorry. I'm so used about us not discussing our families that I totally forgot to tell you my parents moved back to Washington about six months ago."

"Six months ago? Wow."

"Yes, dad got transferred, again. So they decided to go back to Forks."

"They're living in Forks?!" I had gone out of the room to talk to Alice.

"Yeah, dad works only 4 days a week so he has a small flat near the hospital and then goes home to mom the rest of the week. They're pretty happy to be back in Forks. Mom always missed it so much. And so did some of us." She said that last phrase in a whisper.

"So, how was the honeymoon?" we kept on talking about her trip and all the details. If there was something to keep Alice going, were weddings. She told me everything. From the color of the flowers to all the adventures she had travelling. I really loved her and was going to be devastated when she would eventually stop loving me too, as I was sure she would.

Jacob had walked ahead to bring the car over, as I said goodbye to Charlie for the night. I was walking with Nessie towards the exit when we met Carlisle just outside the door. He smiled and walked to us.

"Hey Bella, I'm sorry for the way I reacted back there. I was just surprised, that's all." He smiled at Nessie. "She's beautiful."

"Thank you. I was talking to Alice a few minutes ago and she explained that you guys moved back to Forks."

"Yes, she just called me. I didn't say anything to her about your daughter, though I don't understand why you didn't tell her."

"It's complicated. There wasn't really a good time to tell her." I sighed.

"I guess, unless…" he knelt down to Nessie's level. I started sweating nervously. I knew there was no turning back now.

"Oh you don't wanna know all the girl drama I'm sure." I said trying to distract him. It worked.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He smiled.

"Mommy what's taking Uncle Jake so long? I'm really hungry." Nessie suddenly said pulling my hand. I sighed, that did it. Now he certainly knew Jake wasn't Nessie's father.

"I'm sure he'll be here any minute now baby. Be patient."

"You've been saying that the whole afternoon." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms pouting. That's when I heard Carlisle gasp. Of course, that simple gesture was all it took for Carlisle to see Edward in her. She mimicked him identically, even though they had never met.

"Bella…she…" Carlisle kept staring at me and I just didn't know what to say. Thank God Jake chose that precise moment to appear. As he started honking I picked up Nessie and ran to his car. I didn't dare to look back at Carlisle. I'm sure my reaction confirmed what he was thinking. The moment I dreaded the most was soon to come. The moment when I would have to admit the whole truth. And I hadn't been more terrified in my entire life.

_**SO…THERE U GO!!! THE DRAMA IS SOON TO BEGIN! I HOPE U GUYS REALLY LIKE THIS CH. I PROMISE THE NEXT ONE WILL HAVE VERY EXCITING NEW THINGS HAPPENING. **_

_**AND AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!!!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**HI ALL!!! ONCE MORE THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I DON'T LIKE CLIFF HANGERS EITHER SO I'LL TRY NOT TO DO MANY OF THOSE! I PROMISE!!! **_

_**SO…HERE'S WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING…**_

**CH.5**

"Bella…she…" I kept hearing Carlisle's voice over and over in my head. What was I going to say to him when I saw him at the hospital again? The shock on his face, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was sure that by now he would've already told his family and they must all hate me.

Jacob squeezed my hand as we walked into the hospital. I was holding Nessie with my other hand. She was skipping excited to see Charlie again. She just loved him too much. Suddenly Carlisle appeared and headed our way. I looked at Jacob nervously and he just shrugged.

"It will be ok Bells, relax." He whispered.

I tried to do as he suggested, but Carlisle had a determinate look on his face and not knowing what he would do or say was killing me. When he got to where we were, he talked to Nessie.

"Hello, how are you doing today little one?" he smiled at her.

"I'm happy Dr. Cullen 'cause grandpa's doing better and he'll soon come home and we'll all be together again and then it will be thanks giving and Christmas and…" Carlisle laughed at Nessie's rambling. She smiled sweetly at him, her green eyes sparkling.

"You're a very beautiful little girl." He touched her cheek and then she suddenly kissed him and giggled.

"Nessie!" I pulled her hand very surprised about what she had done. I could see she felt totally comfortable with Carlisle.

"Come on Nessie, let's go see Charlie. Mommy has to talk with Dr. Cullen for a bit." Jacob said taking Nessie's hand and walking away with her. I mouthed a thank you to him and turned around to face Carlisle.

He led me to his office, which was located in the second floor and locked the door once I was in. He sat down and looked at me for a couple of minutes before speaking. I was out of words. I know I should've tried to contact Edward in every way possible when I found out I was pregnant, and I just didn't.

"I know you must've had your reasons Bella, but this isn't right." Was all he said.

"You're right. I'm sorry." I couldn't raise my head to look at him. I had always held so much respect for Carlisle not only as a doctor, but as a father and as a very generous and compassionate man. I felt horrible.

"Please look at me Bella. You're not a child anymore, saying 'I'm sorry' won't do it. I know I'm being a bit harsh, and I'm sorry, but this is something that goes beyond only you. This affects my family, and mostly my son."

I looked up at him this time as I felt the tears coming. And then I told him everything. If there was someone in the Cullen family who would maybe understand, it would be him. Esme would hate me for keeping her from knowing her granddaughter; Emmet would look at me with disappointment; Rosalie would say she always thought I wasn't enough; Jasper would be angry to see Alice so upset; Alice would hate me for lying to her and hiding Nessie every time we saw each other and would automatically stop being my friend; and Edward…Edward…I couldn't let my mind go there. It scared me shitless.

When I finished talking I heard Carlisle sigh. I saw him close his eyes and bow his head.

"Oh Bella." He sighed and looked at me.

"I know it doesn't make it all right. I know I should've said something, at least to Alice. But I was just so hurt. I felt abandoned when you guys left. I was the only one staying behind. Even Jasper and Rose were gone. I had no one left. Alice wasn't answering my emails so I just thought you didn't care about me anymore." I cried.

"I'm sorry you felt that way Bella, but why didn't you tell Alice when you saw her again? My God you've been seeing each other over the years and she has no idea!" he raised his hands.

"I was scared! I don't know! I hadn't expected for her to come into my life again and when she did, I just couldn't bring myself to tell her. I was afraid he would take my baby away from me." I covered my face with my hands while I sobbed.

I felt Carlisle's arms around me as he comforted me. I didn't deserve his compassion. I had kept his granddaughter a secret for more than six years and here he was, hugging me while I cried. He really was a wonderful human being.

We talked for a few more minutes until he had to leave for his rounds. I went back to Charlie's room. Nessie hugged me tightly and I just couldn't seem to let her go. Eventually she told me she couldn't breathe, so I put her down and then just sat in a chair by Charlie's bed. He was asleep. Jacob went back to La Push to work. I was just sitting there, while Nessie colored on a nearby small table.

"Earth to Bella." I turned to look at my father. He looked so much better. His cheeks had some color in them again, and there weren't any dark circle under his eyes anymore.

"Hi dad, how're you feeling?" I squeezed his hand.

"Better because you and Nessie are here." He smiled. I sighed.

"Jacob told me you were talking to Carlisle. Is everything ok honey?" I could see the concern in his eyes. My parents had supported my decision to raise Nessie by myself, never questioning my motives. Well, Charlie had witnessed some of it and he had actually talked to Edward, but they had never asked me to contact any of the Cullens.

"Yes dad, everything's ok. I guess it was just a matter of time before things changed." I raised my eyebrows and glanced at Nessie so that he understood he had to be careful of what he said in front of her.

"I know. Will you be ok Bells?"

"I'll try." I smiled back at him and kissed his forehead.

I left Nessie with Charlie while I went to the cafeteria to get us some lunch. I was walking back to the room when a familiar voice made me stop. I was rooted to the floor as I heard a loud booming voice coming from the main entrance of the hospital. A booming voice I knew pretty well.

"Hey dad! Where are you hiding old man?"

"Emmet?" I heard Carlisle ask, and then they both came into view a few feet away from me. "Hello son. It's so good to see you." They hugged.

Leave it to Emmet to not even bother being in a hospital. He picked Carlisle up in a big hug and laughed so loudly.

"Ok that's enough, put me down now." Carlisle laughed, and patted his Emmet on his back.

"Missed you dad."

"I missed you too, now how was the flight?"

"It was long, and uncomfortable as always, but totally worth it." That hadn't been Emmet speaking. I glanced to the door and then I saw him. He was just walking in and putting his arms around Carlisle.

Before I could help it I dropped the tray of food I had in my hands. A loud bang was heard throughout the whole floor. Three heads turn to look my way and then two pairs of eyes open widely with recognition.

For a brief second I connected with Edward's eyes. Then I just turned around and ran to Charlie's room, but not before I heard him.

"Bella?" Edward said.

I went directly into Charlie's bathroom and sat on the floor. I wasn't ready to face him, hell I wasn't ready to even see him again. Any hope I had of prolonging the inevitable was gone now. With Edward here, there was nothing I could do about it. And how hadn't I thought of it before? It was Thanks Giving; of course they would all be here to be with Carlisle and Esme. That would mean Alice would be here too. I was terrified to come out of the bathroom. And seeing Edward again. Oh God he looked so good. He had always been gorgeous, but now, his body was a bit different, in a good way, and he looked so happy. That smile, it still made me tremble. Suddenly I heard a soft knock on the door.

"Mommy, are you coming out? I'm hungry." Nessie said making me stand up. I cleaned my face and opened the door smiling at her.

"Don't you think about anything else than food baby?" I kissed the top of her head.

"You came back with no food Bells, of course Nessie's still hungry. Why don't you take her to the cafeteria this time? She's been inside this room far too long." Charlie said making me glare at him. He knew I didn't want Nessie walking around the hospital. Not only because she could pick up some germs, but also because I didn't want to risk her running into anyone.

"Yes please mommy! I wanna go with you! Please!" she jumped up and down, turning the full force of her eyes on me. I couldn't deny her anything when she did that.

"Fine, let's go. Are you sure you'll be ok dad?" I took Nessie's hand and opened the door.

"Sure honey. You girls go and have a delicious lunch in my name." he smiled as I closed the door and turned around to face an empty hallway.

I bought Nessie some pizza slices and got a sandwich for myself. We sat in the small cafeteria and enjoyed our lunch. Nessie was asking me questions about Forks and how she wanted to go and see my old room and Charlie's cruiser. It seemed he had been telling her stories about my time there and about the whole town. I told her we would be going there soon to help Charlie around for some time. She was so excited and hugged me and kissed my cheek. She was the most important person in my life; I just loved her so much. She filled me with new experiences each day.

We were walking back to Charlie's room when I saw Carlisle out of the corner of my eye. He noticed me and gently nodded his head towards some chairs. Alice was sitting there fixing up something on her boots. I made my mind in that moment. It was time.

I knelt down to talk to Nessie. "Baby, there's a very special person I want you to meet. She's been my best friend for many years and I love her very much."

"Is it Alice?" her little green eyes looked at me excitedly. Of course she had heard about Alice before. She had been a part of my life as long as Nessie could remember.

"Yes baby, it's Alice." I smiled at her. She started jumping up and down excitedly.

"I've always wanted to meet her. Come on mommy." She took my hand and we started walking towards them. I saw Carlisle smile at me and then whispered something to Alice, who immediately looked up.

"Bella!" she said standing up and walking to me. I noticed Carlisle walked away quietly, not wanting to intrude in our moment. Yes, this moment was just about Alice, Nessie and me.

"Hey Alice. It's so nice to see you." I hugged her tightly. It could very well be the last time I would hug her.

"How's Charlie?"

"He's going to be ok. I'll have to hang around for a bit to help him take it easy for a while, though.

"Oh, mom's going to be so happy having you here again." She still hadn't noticed the little girl holding my hand.

"Alice, there's someone very special I want you to meet. I know this may come as a surprise, but believe me I've wanted to introduce you to her for a long time now." I smiled and nudged Nessie so that she would walk a little bit forward.

"Hi Alice. It's nice to finally meet you." Nessie said smiling up at her.

"Hey honey, and who might you be?" she asked smiling at her and then glancing up at me.

"Alice this is my daughter, Nessie." Her eyes opened widely as she stared at me. I knew she was trying to digest what I had just said. I nodded trying to make her understand what I couldn't say with words. She slowly turned her head around to look at Nessie, who hadn't stopped smiling the whole time. Bless her little soul.

Alice just stared at Nessie without saying anything. She then touched her face softly, while I noticed her eyes starting to water. And then, without either of us expecting it, Nessie just threw her arms around Alice's neck and hugged her.

"I'm very happy to meet mommy's best friend." My little angel said. I saw Alice closed her eyes as tears started to stream down her face. I felt my own tears, but did nothing to stop them. Alice put her arms around Nessie and picked her up. I remained where I was, scared to make a move. For once, Alice Cullen was speechless. That was even more terrifying.

"I'm very happy to meet you too Nessie." Alice finally whispered. She turned to look at me and I could see the hurt, the disappointment, the betrayal, and plenty of more feelings just there in her eyes. I took Nessie from her then.

"Mommy, why are you crying? Are you hurt?" Nessie touched my face and I kissed her cheek.

"I'm ok baby. I'm sorry Alice." Was all I could say.

"Don't. Just Don't Bella. I…I can't talk to you right now." I nodded and closed my eyes for a second.

"I understand. I know you won't want to listen to my explanation, and it breaks my heart that I'm going to lose you for this, but before you judge me Alice, please talk to Carlisle. I love you." I turned around and walked away.

I spent the next half an hour sobbing in the bathroom. The look on Alice's face would torment me forever. Why had I thought they would never find out? She had only looked at Nessie once to figure everything out. Had I been so stupid? No, I had just been a scared pregnant teenager with no clue about what to do. I had forgotten to lock the door, so I jumped when I felt a pair of strong arms pick me up and carry me to the couch. Jacob was back.

I cleaned my face as Nessie got up on my lap and rested her head on me chest. I stroked her hair and we stayed sitting like that for a while. I knew it was time for me to talk to Nessie. She must've been so confused by the way the meeting with Alice ended. I knew she had questions and it was time to answer them.

Jacob drove us to Forks. I wanted Nessie to see everything she had been so excited about. We went up to my old room and I took my yearbook from the shelf. I sat down next to her and started showing her all the pictures of my friends and classmates and then she recognized Alice.

"Yes honey, we went to school together. That's why she had always been my best friend." I smiled as I saw a younger Alice smiling in the photo. I showed her Emmet, Rosalie and Jasper, since she would be meeting them all soon.

"I know him too mommy." She pointed at Edward's photo. He looked so young and handsome, with that killer smile I loved so much.

"You do?"

"I saw a picture of you with him at Mamma Ren's house. It fell off from a book she had on a table. Who is he?" she looked expectantly at me and I smiled.

"His name is Edward Cullen. He's Alice's and Emmet's brother. He's also Dr. Cullen's son."

"I like Dr. Cullen."

"Baby, you see how Edward had your same eyes, and he smiles just like you. And when you roll your eyes you remind me so much of him too. We loved each other very much when we were in school, but then he had to move away with his family and I didn't see him again, until today." She kept her little eyes glued to my face. I knew I was crying but I couldn't stop. She needed to know.

"Nessie, remember how you asked me if you had a daddy?" she nodded. "Well baby you do have a daddy. Edward is your daddy." She looked down at his picture and then back at me.

"Why hasn't he ever wanted to meet me?" her bottom lip started trembling.

"He doesn't know about you baby. He left Forks before I even knew I was pregnant. That's why Alice was crying today; you're her niece and she was meeting you for the first time." I rubbed her back while she put her head on my shoulder.

I told her as much of the story as I could. She then started asking me about Edward and I told her everything about him that I could remember. I told her everything about the Cullens and about Rose and Jasper too. She was really excited to meet them all. I hugged her tightly and kissed her head.

"You know I love you baby right?"

"I love you too mommy." She kissed me back.

We stayed in Forks that night and Jacob drove us to Seattle the next morning. It was Thanks Giving. We were talking with Charlie about what we were going to do that day, since Jacob didn't celebrate Thanks Giving obviously, and Charlie had to stay in the hospital. He refused for Nessie and I to stay there with nothing to do.

"Maybe you could come celebrate it with us; we would love to have you and Nessie at our home." Carlisle said walking into the room. We were all silent staring at Carlisle, when suddenly Nessie jumped up from the couch and ran to him.

"Grandpa Carlisle!" she flung herself into his arms. Every head turned my way.

"I told her everything yesterday." I smiled at Carlisle.

"Thank you Bella." He hugged Nessie tightly and kissed her head.

"Can we mommy? Can we go spend Thanks Giving at Grandpa Carlisle's house? Please?" she pleaded smiling at me.

"Well, I…"

"Please Bella, it would be just perfect." Carlisle said.

"Dad, will you…"

"I'll be ok Bells, you should go with Cralisle." Charlie smiled at me.

"Ok I guess."

"Yeeeiiii!!" Nessie yelled and we all laughed.

"Great! I'll be ready to leave in 20 minutes." Carlisle said kissing Nessie one more time before leaving.

"You give me a call Bells, you know, if you need me." Jacob squeezed my hand.

"Thanks Jake. But I know Carlisle will help everything be all right." I said, more for me than for him or Charlie. I needed to reassure myself that everything would turn out just fine.

_**I HOPE U LIKED THIS CHAPTER. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT U THINK!**__** THE FUN IS JUST STARTING!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**HEY GUYS!!! SORRY I TOOK SO LONG..WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN…OK SO WITHOUT ANY MORE WORDS, UP NEXT: THANKSGIVING DINNER AT THE CULLENS!**_

_**ENJOY!**_

**CH.****6**

As we rode with Carlisle towards his house, my mind kept imagining all the reactions I would get from the people I once considered my family. I just prayed for Nessie's sake that everything would turn out ok. In the end, they were her family too. Knowing them all, I knew Esme's and Edward's reactions where the ones I dreaded the most, since Alice already knew. I wasn't looking forward to seeing how she would treat me now. I mean, at the hospital she had been so shocked and surprised that she didn't say anything to me, but now, I wasn't so sure she would stay quiet. She never did.

Taking a glance at the back seat of the car, I could see Nessie bouncing up and down giggling. I couldn't help but smile. She was just so adorable when she was smiling that way.

"Someone's excited." Carlisle suddenly said taking a quick glance my way.

"I would be too, if I was meeting my family for the first time." I lowered my head, "I'm so sorry Carlisle." I whispered.

"Let's not talk about that anymore ok?" he padded my hand.

"Are you sure this was a good idea? I mean, you're all happy to be together at Thanks Giving and I just feel I'm going to ruin everything."

"No you're not Bella. It's going to be fine. Stop worrying about it. Just take a look at how happy Nessie is. This is the right thing to do."

As we approached the driveway of the Cullen's house, I couldn't help the memories that came to me. It was too overwhelming. The first time Edward brought me to a family dinner; the first time I was invited to a birthday celebration; the first time I came over for Thanks Giving and Christmas; the first time I stayed over. This had been my home too. But it just didn't feel like home anymore.

Carlisle stopped the car and I my hands started shaking. He gave me a small smile and got out of the car. It was time.

I got out of the car and opened the door for Nessie. She took my hand and squeezed it tightly. I knew she was as nervous as I was, only she was happy nervous, while I was scared shitless. We walked up the steps to the front door and Nessie and I stood behind Carlisle while he opened the door and stepped into the house. I could instantly hear voices and laughter. I knew in a couple of minutes the laughter would be completely gone.

"Hello family. So papa is finally home!" Carlisle yelled into the house. Nessie and I were still behind him so I couldn't see very well, but I heard muffled voices and more laughter.

"Finally dad, I'm starving!" Emmet yelled. I smiled.

"You're always hungry babe, so that's nothing new." Rosalie said. I scoffed.

"How was your day honey?" Esme asked sweetly. Oh how I had missed her.

"It was good honey; I hope you made plenty of food 'cause I got two surprise guests with me." I felt myself tense up, my breathing coming out faster.

"You know I always make up more than enough. But, who are these guests? Where are they?" Esme asked and I could see her trying to look past Carlisle.

"Oh dad, you didn't." Alice suddenly said. Of course she knew who Carlisle had brought home with him. She always knew this kind of stuff.

"Alice…later." Was all he said to her. And then he motioned for Nessie and I to walk in. "Come in guys."

I stepped into the very familiar house and started to look around at the faces of my once called family. Nessie was standing a little bit behind me, and I doubted anybody had noticed her yet. But they had noticed me, that's for sure. Everyone was really quiet all of a sudden. I focused on Alice's face and saw her turn around and bury her face in Jasper's chest. Jasper at the same time had a very surprised look on his face, the same as Rose and Emmet and Esme.

Edward was not there.

"Hello everyone. Happy Thanksgiving." I said trying to smile, but failing.

A few more silent minutes. I guess they were all wondering what I was doing there. Jasper's look had turned to confusion now, once he noticed Alice's weird reaction to me. He knew something was going on.

"Bella! Well this is a surprise indeed!" Emmet suddenly yelled and started laughing. "So it was you at the hospital. Dad wouldn't say a word after we saw you. Nice surprise old man."

"Bella of course you would be here. Carlisle mentioned Charlie's at the hospital. Silly of me to have forgotten that. Please do come in. It's so nice to see you again honey." Esme smiled sweetly at me, recovering from her surprise.

"It's nice to see you too Esme. Thank you for having us today." I felt Nessie tugging at my hand from behind me.

"It's been a long time Bella. You've grown up nicely I might say." Rosalie smiled at me.

"Yes, it's been a long time Rose. Too long." I smiled back at her.

Nessie was getting impatient. Too much talk for her.

"You mentioned two guests Carlisle?" Jasper asked, narrowing his eyes at me. He was so defensive of Alice. With his question she did turn around trying to look behind me. I slowly nodded at her.

"Where is she?" she asked not looking at me, but at Carlisle.

"Alice please. Don't rush this. And I'm warning you; don't make it harder than it already is." Carlisle glared at her.

"What are you two talking about? I'm completely lost here." Emmet stood up.

This was it. This was the moment I had been dreading for 7 years. The moment of truth. I could see Alice looking expectantly at Carlisle, and I could feel the curious eyes of everyone else in the room on me. Carlisle patted my hand as I took a deep breath.

"Where is Edward?" Carlisle asked looking around the room.

"He was finishing dressing up; he must be down any minute." Esme said not taking her eyes away from me.

"I uh…I have someone with me that is dying to meet you all." I pulled Nessie's hand slowly and felt her walk to my side. Now she was in full view of everyone else in the room. Esme and Rose immediately smiled at her. "This is Nessie."

Alice let go of Jasper's hand and walked forward. She smiled widely at Nessie and Nessie smiled back at Alice. Alice took her other hand and kissed her softly in her cheek.

"Hi Alice." Nessie smiled. "I wanted to see you again."

"I wanted to see you too."

"Bella, you're a mom." Rose walked a little bit forward too, staying behind Alice. "And she's so beautiful."

"She looks like her dad." I whispered, but Esme heard me.

"Who is her father Bella?" she asked so quietly.

"Do you really have to ask mom?" Alice glared at me.

"Mary Alice Cullen! I'm warning you." Carlisle said to her.

"Mommy?" Nessie looked up at me with uncertainty.

"Yes baby, this is your family." I smiled at her. Everyone else in the room saw her smile back at me and then roll her eyes in a very Edward like kind of way. "Finally." She giggled.

I heard Esme gasp loudly and grab Carlisle's hand as she put two and two together.

"Oh Bella." Rosalie said giving me the saddest look ever.

That was the moment Edward chose to appear. "Dad, I'm so glad you're finally home, I was starting to…" he stopped abruptly when he saw me. He looked so handsome and I couldn't help the little dance my heart started making. It was unbelievable the effect he still had on me after all these years.

Esme kept looking back and forth between Nessie and him. And everyone else in the room had their eyes glued on Edward.

"Hello Edward." I said trying to keep my voice calmed, but failing miserably.

"Bella…hi. What's going on…"Edward was asking when suddenly Nessie let go of my hand and ran to him.

"Daddy!" she yelled as she threw her little arms around Edward's waist. I groaned and sat down on the nearest chair. I could feel his eyes on me and I was too scared to look up.

"What…" Edward was saying when suddenly Emmet jumped up from his seat.

"Holy shit man, you're a dad!"

"What are you talking about Em?" Edward kept looking weirdly at Nessie.

"Really babe, it took you this long to figure it out?" Rose asked rolling her eyes.

I looked up to see Nessie looking at Edward obviously expecting some type of reaction from him. But he just kept looking at her and at everyone around as if we had all gone crazy. Suddenly everyone started talking at once. The sound was so loud and there was no sense in the conversations at all. Carlisle had to clear his throat three times before he got everyone to settle down.

I saw Nessie's little eyes start to water up as she looked at Edward one last time before turning to me.

"Mommy?" she ran to me and I hugged her tightly glaring at Edward.

"It's ok baby, it's ok." I tried to calm her down as her little sobs broke my heart. Everyone had gone really quiet when they heard Nessie crying. Rose glared at Edward.

"I'm…I'm…sorry." He said still confused about the whole situation.

"Excuse me please." I carried Nessie outside the house and sat with her on the porch steps.

I felt the buzzing of conversation start again, but this time I had only ears for Nessie. She was sobbing so loudly. I felt my own tears at the same time I heard the door open and close. I smelled her perfume before she sat down beside me.

"I imagine that was not how you expected it to go huh?" Rose said stroking Nessie's head.

"No, I actually thought it would be worst." I sighed as I felt Nessie's even breathing, signaling that she had fallen asleep.

"Edward's just as surprised as everyone else. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt her."

"I know. She was just so happy to meet him. Ever since I told her yesterday she's been looking forward to this. And to see that sad look in her eyes just a few minutes ago, it broke my heart." I cleaned the tears from my own face.

"All this must be really hard for you Bella." She put her hand on my shoulder.

"Of all the people, I never imagined you would be the one to understand Rose. Thanks."

"Well, I know how I was in high school, but believe me I'm not that person anymore. Life has shown me where my real priorities are and family comes high in number 1. We haven't been a family to you in a long time. God we even turned our backs on you all those years ago. As much as I love Edward, and Em will kill me if he knows I told you this, but he deserved it. He should have stayed with you or something. I never understood why he just left you behind." She squeezed my hand.

"Thank you Rose." I smiled at her again. "Wanna help me carry her inside?"

"Sure. Come on." She helped me up and opened the door for me. "This way." She walked ahead of me not looking at anyone else in the room.

I caught Carlisle's soft smile as I carried Nessie into Edward's room. Once I had tugged her in and made sure she was comfortable, I walked back down into the living room. There was no one there. I looked around a bit confused when I heard sounds coming from the dining room. And there they were, all the Cullens sitting down ready for Thanks Giving dinner.

I saw there was an empty chair between Carlisle and Rosalie so I sat there. As soon as I was sitting down, Esme began to say grace. When she was done, we all started eating. I noticed Edward wouldn't even look my way. He had seated himself at the farthest place in the table and wasn't even speaking to anyone. Alice kept glaring at me the whole time, while Jasper had a look of disappointment in his face. Emmet and Rosalie would whisper to each other, while Carlisle tried to make small conversation with Esme. It was horrible.

After a few more minutes, I couldn't take it anymore. I slowly stood up.

"I'm sorry I ruined everyone's Thanksgiving. I'm sorry Carlisle." I said before leaving the room.

"Bella…" Carlisle said standing up.

"No dad, it's my turn." I heard Edward said and heard him follow me outside.

I walked until I was at the edge of where the woods started. I didn't want to go too far in case Nessie woke up and went looking for me. I knew she would get scared if she didn't see me around. I felt footsteps behind me, but I didn't turn around. I really just wanted to be alone.

"I'll just stay here until Nessie wakes up and then I'll ask Carlisle to drive us back to the hospital. It was a mistake coming here today and I will not intrude in your thanks giving anymore. I'm sorry about that." I turned around to face Edward. There were no words for the look on his face. It was a mixture of sadness and anger. I kept waiting for him to say something but he just stood there, staring at me. I couldn't take it any longer.

"Whatever you're thinking right now Edward, it's not important."

"You don't know what I'm thinking." He practically spat out.

"The only thing I know is that it's not her fault." I still couldn't look at him directly. It hurt too much.

"I know it's not her fault. I just…Jesus Bella, you went and had a kid, my kid, and didn't care to let me know!" finally, a reaction. And it was exactly the one I was expecting.

"What else did you want me to do? I was alone and scared." I felt the tears coming, but I held them back. I was not going to break down in front of him and let him know how much damage he had done to me. I needed to be strong for my daughter.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore. I just never thought you would be capable of something like this. Yes, we were both kids, hell we still are, but this wasn't something that concerned only you. Have you given any thought maybe as to what I would've wanted to do?" he got a little bit closer to me.

"You were half across the country!" I raised my hands into the air, "Honestly, I tried to contact you at first, but then I decided that what mattered the most was the little person growing inside me, not you or me. Yes, I may have made mistakes and done things differently, but there's nothing I can do about that now, is there?"

"No, there's not." There was that tone again. He was really hurt. I didn't want to feel guilty, but I couldn't help it.

"Just…whatever you decide Edward, remember that she is your daughter and she was very excited to meet you. She's just perfect, smart, funny, so lovable and sweet." I smiled thinking about my baby girl.

"She is beautiful. I'm sorry I scared her back there." I liked this tone of voice way much better.

"She'll get over it. You should go and talk to her."

"She kinda looks like…"

"Like you, I know. An everyday reminder thanks a lot." I smiled, he smirked.

"Alice knew, didn't she? I knew you guys kept seeing each other during the years."

"No Edward, she found out yesterday. Don't blame her for anything." I quickly corrected him.

"That explains her mood. I've never seen her so angry."

"I deserve that. I totally deserve that." I could feel the tears coming again. Go away Edward, I kept wishing. Go away so that I can break down and cry like I need to do right now. As if he had heard me he suddenly turned around and started walking back to the house.

He wasn't that far when I heard him whisper to me, "I don't think I'll ever forgive you for this Bella." He continued walking into the house.

"You left Edward, you left." I whispered to myself and then I let the tears finally break free.

_**OH POOR BELLA…WELL, THE TRUTH IS FINALLY OUT…BUT THERE ARE MORE SURPRISES COMING ALONG THE WAY!! HMM…HANG IN THERE GUYS!!!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**HELLO EVERYONE! THANX SO MUCH FOR ALL UR WONDERFUL REVIEWS…I TRY TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I'M LEAVING ANYONE BEHIND…**_

_**I KNOW THE GENERAL FEELING IS THAT EDWARD HAS NO RIGHT TO BE SO ANGRY AT BELLA…AND BELLA SHOULDN'T FEEL SO GUILTY…UR ALL RIGHT…THEY NEEED TO TALK SERIOUSLY OR BELLA JUST NEEDS TO YELL AT HIM…BUT REMEMBER ABOUT NESSIE..**_

_**OK I WONT SAY ANYTHING ELSE…KEEP ON READING TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!**_

**CH.****7**

I stayed out there for a few more minutes just thinking. It could have honestly gone a whole lot worse. At least I hadn't been yelled at by Esme or Alice. Alice, I still had a conversation pending with her, or maybe she would never speak to me again. Of all of them, she was the only one with a reason to really be mad at me. We were friends; we had remained being friends throughout the years and I had deliberately hidden Nessie from her. It was not so much about the Edward situation, it was just the fact that I had lied to her so openly. But I had made up my mind now. Even if I was at fault here, it had all been Edward's doing. If he had at least kept in contact with me, or returned my calls, or even bother to try to find me after Charlie told him I was no longer in Forks, things would've been so different. Even if he didn't love me anymore, at least he would've been a part of his daughter's life. But none of that was important now. The only thing clear here was that Nessie needed me and I had to be strong for her.

With that in my mind, I walked back into the house. There was silence all around me. I glanced at the closed door of Carlisle's office as I walked to Edward's room. There were noises and muffled voices coming from the office. I guessed Carlisle was there, probably with Esme. I kept on walking and got to Edward's room. The door was slightly open and I could see Edward sitting down on his bed, watching Nessie sleep. I couldn't help the smile that image brought to my lips.

Nessie began to move and she slowly opened her eyes. She stared at Edward for a few seconds before looking around the room. She was looking for me. It was dark so she didn't see me standing by the door.

"Your mother's downstairs." Edward said to her softly.

"Ok. I'm hungry. Did I miss Thanksgiving dinner?" she sat up rubbing her eyes.

"There's plenty of food left, don't worry about it. Mom always cooks for an army." I could feel his smile.

"I didn't get a chance to talk to her yet." My little baby whispered sadly.

"I'm sorry about that. It was entirely my fault. I was just so surprised. I didn't mean to get you upset Nessie." He touched her hair. She looked up at him and smile.

"I wanted to meet you. Mommy showed me all your pictures from school and told me everything about you. I look a lot like you." She giggled.

"Yes you do." I could hear Nessie's stomach growling.

"Hey baby. Did you sleep ok?" I walked into the room and stood on the other side of the bed. I smiled at her.

"Yes mommy. I was just talking to daddy. I like him." She smiled at him.

"Well I like you too Nessie." He stood up and helped her up from the bed.

"Come on baby; let's get you something to eat ok? And you can continue talking to your dad later." She walked to me and gave me her hand to hold. Edward followed us down.

Edward got a plate and helped put some food on it, while I settled Nessie at the small kitchen table. While we were doing that, Esme walked in. She stared at Edward and then at Nessie and me. I guess she decided not to say anything then, but went to help Edward heat up the food. Carlisle walked into the kitchen a few minutes after Esme did, and smiled at us.

"So, is the food any good Nessie?" he sat down beside her and stroked her hair.

"It's delicious grandpa. I love the turkey." She smiled at him. And suddenly she got up from her chair and climbed into Carlisle's lap. I moved her plate so that she could continue eating from there. I saw Carlisle grin like a little kid.

"Your grandmother's a wonderful cook. Has she told you that yet?" he glanced at Esme asking her to walk closer. She did, and sat down beside him.

"It's the best Thanksgiving turkey I've ever had. Thanks grandma." Nessie smiled at her. I could see tears on Esme's eyes.

"Anytime sweetie. Now eat everything ok?" she patted her hand and kissed the top of her head as she got up.

It killed me to see the look of sadness in Esme's face. She and Carlisle were the last persons I had wanted to hurt with all of this. But I had hurt them. At least Carlisle, being the compassionate man that he was, seemed to have forgiven me, but I wasn't so sure about how Esme was feeling. Aghh! I was so angry at Edward. This was his entire fault. If he hadn't been such a jerk, I knew that even if we had broken up I would have still remained friends with his whole family. They had been my family too. But his attitude had complicated things to the extreme. Now all I wanted was to stop feeling like it was my fault to see them so hurt, because it wasn't. Right now they were all pointing fingers at me, but had they stopped to analyze the complete situation? I didn't just disappear for the mere fun of it, something had happened. And that something was Edward's fault. Edward's, and no one else's.

After Nessie finished her food, Edward guided her to the family room where he started showing her photo albums of his family. There were pictures of his parents, of Alice, Emmet and himself as kids growing up, of school, of friends. I hadn't seen those pictures in a very long time. They brought good memories of Edward and me cuddling together in the same couch I was now sitting on, watching these albums. It suddenly made me feel uncomfortable.

"Why aren't there any pictures of mommy?" I looked up at Edward for a second and then back at my daughter.

"Baby remember that I didn't move into Forks up until my junior year of high school. I was living with Mamma Ren before that." I smiled at her.

"These pictures are from before I met your mother Nessie. We were very young." Edward looked at me for a brief second and then returned his eyes to Nessie.

I left them alone for a few minutes and went to get a glass of water. Rose and Emmet were in the kitchen. Rose smiled at me, while Emmet tried his best to ignore me.

"How is she holding up?" Rose asked from the table.

I leaned into the counter and sighed. "She seems to be doing pretty good. I guess she really understood everything I told her yesterday."

"Poor kid. Learning she has had a very different family all along. And such a messed family we are." Emmet grunted.

"Em, please." Rose touched his arm lightly.

"He's right Rose, we're a very messed up family it seems." Alice walked in followed by Jasper, who sat down beside Rose.

I looked at the faces of my four former friends. I couldn't believe there had been a time when we would've done everything together. It seemed such a long time ago. I was tired of trying to make them understand, so I decided not to say anything else. The silence was freaking me out.

"I always thought you and Edward would end up getting married. My brother was a totally different person when he was around you." Emmet surprised me by saying. He was looking intensely at me and I had to look away.

"Yes, he opened up to everyone and wasn't bitter anymore. We even became better friends to each other around that time." Jasper continued. I had no idea where this conversation was going.

"It's such a shame he then had to go and blow it all away. So typically Edward, but not typically us." Rose snorted making me look up at her in complete surprise. Alice's face registered the same surprised expression I was sure I had. She looked at both of us choosing her words carefully.

"Moving away didn't have to mean that everything was over. And even if it was between you two, you were our friend too."

"And that's not how friends behave Bella. We should've been there for you too." Emmet sighed taking Rose's hand.

"We should've said something." Jasper whispered looking slowly up at me and then at Alice. He tried to take her hand, but she stood up and glared at all of them. "Alice, sweetheart, we have to be honest here. It was not all Bella's f…"

"I don't care whose fault it is! I don't care what my stupid brother did or didn't do, should or shouldn't have done! That's not the point here!" Alice was completely right in feeling how she did. This was the only truth I couldn't escape.

"Alice! Stop being so irrational!" Emmet tried to make her sit down, but she walked away from the table.

"No Emmet, she's right." I sighed walking towards her. She took two steps back, away from me. "If we're talking about being good friends here, that's exactly what I wasn't either. Alice has the right to feel betrayed and hurt by my actions. After all, she is my best friend." I looked directly at her, trying to make her understand that I knew I had hurt her and that I was really sorry about it. And that I loved her, even if she didn't want to continue being my friend anymore. I was now standing right in front of her.

"Let me go Emmet!" she yelled once more trying to get herself free from Emmet's arms.

"Alice, I'd appreciate it if you stopped yelling." Edward suddenly walked in and glared at her. "Nessie just fell asleep again and I don't want you to wake her up with this childish rant you've got going on." The look on my face must've given away my thoughts, "Don't worry Bella, I distracted her with some videos, she didn't hear anything." I closed my eyes and nodded.

Alice left the room and Jasper followed her. I just stood there, thinking what to do next, when Edward's first words caught up to me. Nessie was asleep, which meant it was late and time to leave.

"Oh no."

"What's wrong Bella?" Rose asked me.

"Nothing, it's just that now it's going to be a lot harder to get home, with Nessie asleep. I better go get Carlisle." I started to move but Edward's words stopped me.

"Stay."

"What?"

"Stay Bella. It's really late and Nessie's already sleeping. You don't want to wake her up do you?"

"I don't know." I hadn't expected this. I didn't feel comfortable with it at all.

"He's right Bella. It's really cold outside and she's already asleep. It's better if you just stay over." Rose said, resting her head on Emmet's shoulder.

"I'm sure dad will drive you to the hospital first thing tomorrow. You can sleep with Nessie on my bed, I'll sleep down here." There was genuine concern in Edward's voice. It surprised me in a good way. So I gave in.

Rosalie let me burrow a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. After I had changed I climbed into bed next to Nessie. It's needless to say I had a hard time falling asleep. Just the fact that I was in Edward's room, on his bed, it was just too much. I was assaulted by memories of the last time I had been on this same bed, with him. And the realization of what had happened that night hit me like a blast of ice water. It had been the first and only time I had been with any guy. And now that I thought about it, it really didn't count. It had been more pain than anything else and on top of that, I had gotten pregnant as a result. I was feeling very frustrated. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change having Nessie for anything in this world, but I still felt cheated. My first time should've been something amazing to remember. Now, because of everything that had happened afterwards, it wasn't one of my nicest memories.

I think I finally fell asleep after midnight, after a lot of tossing and turning, not only done by me. I had forgotten Nessie moved a lot while sleeping. Her arms landed on top of my face countless times. I woke up with her head on my chest and her leg over me waist. I couldn't help but smile at my baby girl. She always brought a smile to my face, even at the oddest moments.

I dressed quietly and went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. I saw Edward was still asleep on the couch, so I tried to make as little noise as possible. He looked so peaceful and relaxed. I was about to go wake up Nessie when Edward woke up, and soon we were joined by Carlisle and Esme. It was then decided, or you could say I was convinced to ride with Carlisle to the hospital while Nessie stayed with Edward. Esme had suggested this, since she had yet to spend time with her granddaughter. Edward agreed to drive her later to see Charlie. I woke her up and let her know about this before leaving. She was still a bit drowsy, but she kissed me goodbye and settled on Edward's lap.

"Hey dad. You look so much better today." I walked into Charlie's room followed closely by Carlisle.

"I feel a lot better Bells. It's a Thanksgiving miracle." He chuckled as I kissed his forehead.

"It's good to see you so happy Charlie. I'll go check if we can maybe release you sooner." Carlisle checked Charlie's chart before leaving the room.

I poured Charlie a glass of water and sat on a side of his bed. He straightened up a little bit and made me look at him. "So? How did it go? Where is Nessie?"

I sighed. "She's at the Cullen's', with Edward and Esme. I guess it went ok. Nothing I wasn't expecting."

"That bad huh? I'm sorry Bells." Charlie squeezed my hand. "I hope you gave Edward a piece of your mind. And anyone else who was mean to you."

"I haven't really talked to Edward that much, yet. I was just trying to make everything as normal and as less traumatic as possible for Nessie."

"This isn't just about Nessie and you know it Bella. Don't use her as an excuse. You have to confront this situation. For your daughter's and your own sake." Chief Swan was back. Or at least his tone of voice was. I couldn't help but smile at him. It was so refreshing to see that my dad was starting to be himself again. He was still trying to figure out what I had found so amusing when Jacob walked in.

We had lunch together, while he made me tell him every detail of the previous day and Thanksgiving dinner at the Cullens. I felt so comfortable with Jacob, that I didn't mind telling him my thoughts about Edward and about what sleeping on his bed again had meant for me. He was just so sweet and understanding, and always said the right words. I felt like hugging him tightly, so that's what I did.

"Uncle Jake!" Nessie ran to him and he picked her up showering her with kisses. I noticed Edward standing back taking in the whole picture. He had a weird look on his face.

Jacob noticed him and put Nessie down, though she wouldn't let go of his hand. I kissed the top of her head and she smiled up at me.

"Edward." Jacob nodded at him.

"Jacob." Edward nodded back. "I see that you're still around."

"Of course I am." He smirked as he picked up Nessie again, just to spite Edward I was sure. When I saw Edward tense up I took it as my cue to say something.

"So baby, how was your morning? Did you have fun with Esme and Edward?" I took her hand as Jake put her down and we started walking towards Charlie's room. I could feel both Edward and Jacob walking behind me in complete silence, so I tried to focus on Nessie's words. Jacob said goodbye right outside Charlie's door, glaring at Edward the whole time. It was clear that the awkwardness that had existed between both of them when we were in high school was still present.

I opened Charlie's door and found Carlisle chatting with him. Charlie had a big grin on his face.

"Guess what Bells? I get to get home by Sunday! Isn't that awesome!" he looked like a little kid all excited. He was almost bouncing up and down on his bed. I laughed at him, while Nessie climbed up the bed to kiss him hello.

"That sound great dad. Are you sure it's safe?" I looked at Carlisle to be sure of his answer.

"It's perfectly safe Bella. It's about damned time too." Charlie answered making me glare at him.

"Language dad." I said looking at Nessie. "And as far as I remember, you're not the one with the doctor's degree here." I rolled my eyes at him, turning back to Carlisle.

"Yes Bella, it's safe. It seems Charlie is out of the woods…for now." As Charlie scoffed, Carlisle went on to recite all the precautions he would need to have on his job and with his diet from now on. I had to help him get settled into a more relax routine and be careful with what he ate on the coming days. He needed to take it real easy at first. I knew I had a big job coming. I had inherited a lot of things from Charlie, and one of them was his stubbornness.

I had completely forgotten about Edward until he spoke to Charlie.

"Chief Swan, I'm glad you're better now." He nodded his head at him while half smiling.

"Edward, thank you for bringing Nessie back to me." Charlie nodded back as he hugged Nessie tightly.

"You're squishing me grandpa!" Nessie giggled so Charlie let her go.

We all had to listen again to everything Nessie had eaten at the Cullens and everything grandma Esme had showed her. She looked so cute when she was rambling that way. None of us had the heart to stop her, even when Charlie fell asleep right beside her. After a few more minutes Carlisle stood up.

"Ok, visiting hours are over guys." He walked to the door.

"I guess I better go home and start preparing everything for Charlie. I'm sure his fridge is empty." I sighed, picking up my coat from the chair and getting Nessie into hers. And then I remembered.

"Oh crap."

"What happened?" both Carlisle and Edward asked at the same time.

"I just remembered I was going to rent a car today, but didn't get a chance to do it." I sat back down.

"Oh but that's not a problem Bella, Edward will drive you." Carlisle smiled at me, nudging Edward.

"He will?"

"I will?" I was sure Edward's expression mirrored mine at that moment.

"Sure. I don't see any problem with it." Carlisle winked at Nessie.

"Oh will you daddy? And then you can tell me more stories about Uncle Em and Aunt Alice on the way. Please!" Nessie was jumping up and down. I could see she had him totally wrapped around her little fingers.

"Ok let's go before it gets too late." Edward sighed and I giggled quietly.

Nessie smiled up at Carlisle who kissed her goodbye before disappearing out the door. I followed Edward and Nessie out of the room, after giving Charlie another kiss on his forehead. He was sound asleep.

_**SO…WHAT DO YOU THINK?? I KNOW IT ISN'T SO EXCITING YET, BUT I PROMISE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE AWESOME….JUST IMAGINE **__**EDWARD AND BELLA IN CHARLIE'S HOUSE WITH A VERY SOUND ASLEEP NESSIE…*GIGGLE*…HMM…WHAT WILL HAPPEN?? CAN YOU GUESS???**_


	8. Chapter 8

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**THANX ONCE AGAIN FOR UR AMAZING REVIEWS GUYS! YOU MAKE **__**ME WANNA KEEP ON WRITING **__****___

_**SO….THINGS SEEM TO BE MOVING ALONG….HMM…THIS CHAPTER'S GOT SOME JUICY STUFF IN IT..SO ENJOY!!!**_

**CH.****8**

The silence was killing me. Was this ride ever going to end? It seemed to be hours ago that we had left Seattle. Nessie had fallen asleep almost as soon as the car started moving, which left Edward and me in the most awkward silence I could ever remember. I tried to change the music, but there was nothing good on so I just gave up. I didn't remember things being so difficult between us. Oh wait, yeah, that was when we were supposedly in love. It had been 7 long years indeed.

I sighed and then started humming one of my favorite songs, Claire De Lune. I turned to look at Edward when I heard him humming the exact same song. He was looking at me too. A few seconds later we both burst out laughing. Ok, it was a good ice breaker, but we were still not talking and Forks was still a bit far.

"So, did you finally go to Med School?" I realized I had no idea what was Edward doing with his life at this point.

"Yeah, I did. I'm on a brake right now, just waiting for my internship application to be accepted." He shrugged.

"That's good Edward. I'm happy that you got to do what you wanted." I turned to look out the window again. I guess I resented the fact that he had been able to keep on with his plans, while I couldn't. I had had to change everything I had once wanted, and I didn't mind that, but it would've been nice not to have to make those decisions on my own. Great, here I was thinking about how things could've been if Edward had stayed with me. I had to stop thinking about that. I couldn't turn back time.

"What do you do Bella? I remember Alice mentioning something once about a Day Care Center?" he surprised me by asking.

"I didn't know Alice talked to you about me."

"She talked to mom and I overheard a couple of times." I nodded understanding. Of course she wouldn't talk directly to him about me.

"I worked at a Day Care Center when Nessie was a baby and then I went to school. I'm now a preschool teacher. But I'm not sure what's going to happen now, because of Charlie and everything. He needs me to stay for a while." I could see we were getting close to Forks now.

"Yeah, that would be good for him." He said as we passed the Welcome to Forks sign. A few minutes later we were pulling up Charlie's driveway.

I got my old bed ready while Edward carried Nessie in. It had started raining really hard and the cold was unbearable. I was shivering as I tucked Nessie in and pulled the covers all the way up to her chin. At least she would be warm. When I came downstairs, I found Edward staring out the window.

"It seems to be picking up." He pointed out the window. There was now hail too. It looked like a pretty bad storm.

"You can't drive in that Edward, it's too dangerous." I walked to the kitchen to make us some coffee.

"It's not a long drive. I'm sure I can make it home safely." He walked in after me getting two mugs from the shelf.

As I heated up the water he took out some spoons and sugar. I hadn't realized he remembered where everything was. It was as if it had been yesterday when we would both cook in my kitchen. I smiled as I poured the hot water into the mugs.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. It's just that this seems oddly familiar. And you still knowing where everything is." He didn't say anything back so we settled down and drank our coffees in complete silence.

He stood up while I put the mugs in the sink. He got his keys and opened the door. A blast of cold wind pushed us back a bit. Edward immediately closed the door again. It was useless. There was no way he was driving in that storm.

"Just stay Edward. There's no point in getting yourself killed just because we're uncomfortable around each other right now. We have to get used to seeing a lot of each other now, you know, because of Nessie." I sighed as I went to take out some covers and pillows from the hall closet. I put them on the couch to make my point clear.

"I just don't want to bother you."

"Nonsense. Good night Edward." I walked up to Charlie's room. I had never slept in Charlie's room. I felt weird getting in his bed. After what seemed like hours of just lying there with my eyes closed trying to sleep, I gave up. I didn't feel comfortable in Charlie's bed and just to think that Edward was so close, it made it worse. I decided to sleep with Nessie. Yeah the bed was small, but it was the only solution I could think of. That was until I went to my room and saw her lying across the whole bed. I didn't want to wake her up so I just closed the door and stood there. What was I going to do now?

I don't know what pushed me to go downstairs. At first I just wanted a glass of warm milk to see if it would help me sleep, but the truth is I wanted to see Edward. Yes, I know, what was the point right? But I still walked to the living room and there he was, peacefully sleeping. I don't know why I did what I did next, but some invisible force made me walk closer to him. He looked just like my Edward. I missed my Edward so much. I knew there was a reason why I hadn't let anyone else get too close to me in all these years. I had given my heart to someone already, and he hadn't given it back yet. I knew I would regret it later, when I was alone again, but now he was here, in my living room. I reached out slowly. I wanted to feel him. To feel that he was real. I felt like a teenage girl all over again. It was just a slight touch on his face, but apparently, he wasn't as asleep as I thought.

I saw him open his eyes, his beautiful dazzling green eyes, and just stare at me. We stared at each other for what seemed hours until he sat up and pulled me to sit beside him on the couch. Before I knew it, he was touching my face too. It was just a gentle and sweet touch, but it brought so many memories with it. His face showed a mixture of emotions I couldn't decipher. There was anguish, pain but also regret?

He leaned into me and I couldn't move, I froze. "Bella…" he whispered and then his lips were on mine. What was happening? My brain didn't register it at first, but my heart was beating so fast that I was sure he could hear it. But then it seems my brain reacted to his lips and before I knew it, I was kissing him back. But it wasn't a sweet and innocent kiss; I had so many emotions repressed inside me that I kind of exploded. My hands were in his hair and then I was on top of him, straddling him, I was completely out of control.

I felt him react to me; he started kissing my neck and all of my face until he found my lips again. "Edward…" I sighed. It was like we couldn't stop. I felt him brush the side of my breasts and I shuddered. It just felt amazing. How many times had I dreamt of this moment; of just being with him again, like this. I hadn't wanted to accept before how much I really had missed him.

It wasn't until I felt him hard against my thigh that I realized exactly what we were doing. This wasn't right. No, there was Nessie to think about. I couldn't do this. Not again. I broke the kiss and started to push Edward away. When he realized what I was doing he froze and I jumped up and backed up against the wall. I closed my eyes to try to bring my breathing back to normal.

"I…uh…" Edward looked down. I guess he too realized what almost happened. Not that I would've allowed it to go that far. Oh who was I kidding?

"I can't…go…through..this…again…Nessie…" I managed to say as I opened my eyes and looked directly at Edward.

"I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I should go." He stood up and started to put his coat on. I still hadn't moved. He looked angry.

"Yeah, I think it's probably a good idea." I nodded.

"I'll um…I'll give you a call tomorrow…you know…to talk to Nessie."

"Ok." I watched him leave, again. I slid to the floor, still pressed against the wall. I started shivering and it had nothing to do with the temperature. I felt tears welling up as I realized that I was still madly in love with him. I had to stop thinking as a teenage girl, even if my own body kept on betraying me. I was a mother now; Nessie was my priority and all my decisions needed to be focused on her. I rose up slowly from the floor and got my glass of warm milk from the kitchen. I cleaned my face before going upstairs. I didn't care if the bed was too small or if Nessie moved a lot while sleeping, I needed to feel her in my arms, now more than ever.

I woke up the next day to my phone ringing. As I answered it, I noticed Nessie wasn't in bed with me. What time was it? It was Jacob saying he would pick us up after lunch to go to the hospital, which gave me enough time to do a little grocery shopping and clean up the place a bit. I stood up and went to look for Nessie. I found her curled up on the couch watching TV.

"Morning baby." I kissed the top of her head.

"Good morning mommy. Did daddy sleep here last night?" my hand froze on her head.

"Umm…yeah, there was a really bad storm last night so he stayed here on the couch. He must've left pretty early this morning." I went to start breakfast.

"Can I see him today? I wanna see him mommy." I started making some toasts and poured two glasses of orange juice for both of us.

"He said he'd call today, so I guess yeah, you will see him today." I couldn't look at her. What was wrong with me? Those were innocent questions. Why was I getting so worked up? I got Nessie's toasts ready and sat her down to eat. After that, we got dressed and headed out for the grocery store. It was just a few blocks away, and it wasn't so cold anymore so we just walked. It was actually nice to walk through the familiar streets of the town. I really had missed it. We got to the grocery store pretty fast. Nessie was looking at some ice cream while I was getting the groceries.

"Bella? Is that you?" I turned around to find a very surprised Angela looking back at me.

"Angela, hi. It's nice to see you again." She gave me a short hug, which I returned.

"Wow, it's been ages Bella. You look amazing."

"You do too Ang. I see that you're married?" I smiled at her, pointing at her left hand.

"Yeah, last year. Ben finally asked." She grinned, "how about you? What have you been up to?"

"Well, I'm a teacher…"

"Oh wait here comes Jess. Hey Jess! Look who's here!" before I knew it, Jessica was walking towards us. Great, just what I needed now, the gossip queen of Forks.

"OH MY GOD BELLA!" she yelled as her arms crushed me in a tight hug.

"Hi Jess." I managed to say before she let me go.

"I can't believe it's really you. What happened to you? I mean, we graduated school and suddenly you disappeared." She was looking at me expecting an answer. What was I going to say? But then my daughter saved me the trouble.

"Mommy! Can I get the chocolate one? I promise not to eat it all at once." She came to me, holding a chocolate ice cream carton in her hands.

"Sure baby." I took the carton from her hands and put into the basket I was holding.

I turned then to look at Jessica and Angela. They were both looking at me with shock written all over their faces. Here we go, I thought.

"Mommy, who are these ladies?" Nessie tugged at my shirt.

"These are Angela Weber and Jessica Stanley baby; I went to high school with them. Guys, this is my daughter Nessie."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Nessie extended her little hand first to Angela, who immediately shook it smiling, and then to Jessica who reluctantly shook it not taking her eyes away from Nessie's.

"So this is why you left." Jessica smirked.

"Jess…" Angela gave her a warning look.

"Oh my God Bella, were you pregnant at graduation? This is so gonna be the bomb of the year. I can't believe it. I can already imagine the headline, Isabella Swan, daughter of chief of police Charlie Swan, pregnant at the tender age of 18…" she was on a roll. Nessie was looking at me with a confused look on her face, while my heart was beating harder and harder each minute, and I'm sure I was blushing like crazy.

"I think you've said enough Jessica." We all turned surprised to see Alice making her way towards us.

"Aunt Alice!" Nessie ran to her. Alice picked her up and gave her a kiss, not taking her eyes away from Jessica who was now completely speechless.

"Oh hello Alice, didn't see you there. So, I see there's more to Bella's little secret. But of course, if you were pregnant at graduation Bella, Edward's the father." Jessica smirked at me.

"That's my daddy's name. Did you know him too?" Nessie smiled at her.

"Sure I did honey, we all did. Who didn't know Edward Cullen. He was just…"

"I think it's time for you to go Jessica. Wouldn't you agree?" Alice glared at her in a way that made her take a few steps back.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea Jess, let's go. I'm really glad to see you again Bella. You too Alice. Come on Jess." Angela walked away dragging a very upset Jessica by her arm.

I hadn't noticed that I was leaning against one of the store's shelves. I closed my eyes to try to bring my breathing back to normal. I was starting to hyperventilate and I just couldn't do that in front of Nessie. I hated Jessica Stanley so much at that moment. I jumped when I felt a soft hand on my arm. I opened my eyes to a very concerned Alice.

"Are you ok?" she squeezed my arm once more.

"I'll be. Thank you Alice." I gave her a small smile.

"I never liked her. Come on Nessie, let's help mommy pay for these things and I'll take you guys home." She started walking to the cashier and I just followed. Was this a truce? I so hoped so.

We got home and I immediately started putting away everything I had bought, while Alice stayed with Nessie watching some TV. I was nervous with Alice there. She was unusually quiet and that only meant that she was waiting for the right time to start saying what was really on her mind. As if she had read my mind, she suddenly walked into the kitchen.

"Where's Nessie?"

"Watching her favorite show. I wanted to punch Jessica so much. I'm glad Nessie was there 'cause I swear if she had said just one more thing, that's exactly what I would've done." She took some cans out of my hands and started arranging them on the shelves.

"I guess it was bound to happen, I mean, I'll be staying here for a while now. I couldn't hide forever." I sighed sitting down. Alice sat down beside me.

"Yeah, that's true. I guess I understand now why you left. This was no environment to raise a baby by yourself." I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, not wanting to let go.

"I'm so sorry Alice. Please believe me. I never wanted to lie to you, I just didn't know how to handle it. I was emotionally a mess when you found me in Jacksonville. Nessie had just been born and I was still getting used to the idea of being a mother. I was honestly freaking out at that time and I just didn't know how to…" she put a hand on my mouth.

"Let's not talk about the past now ok? I know it's my entire idiot brother's fault anyway."

"So, truce?" I extended my hand to her and smiled widely when she took it. "Truce."

We talked a bit more about random stuff until I unintentionally mentioned that I needed to buy some more winter clothes for Nessie if I was going to be staying in Forks. Big mistake, I had completely forgotten Alice's passion for shopping.

"Oh Bella, I can take you guys shopping! That would be so awesome, like old times! Ok, when do you think you have time? And then maybe we can have lunch or dinner and you can tell me all about Nessie growing up and …"

"Oh Alice I missed you." I laughed and hugged her so tightly.

"I know." She giggled. "So, have you talked to Edward today?"

"Umm…no, he hasn't called." I stood up and turned around. I didn't want her to see me blush. But I should've known she would notice something was up.

"Bella? What happened?" she walked to me making me turn around to face her.

"Nothing. Just…forget about it."

"Spill it. You know I won't let it go." She looked sternly at me.

I sighed giving in, "He kissed me. Last night."

"What?!" she yelled and then covered her mouth glancing back to the living room.

"And it wasn't just an innocent kiss. God Alice, I think we would have ended up…you know…only I remembered Nessie was upstairs sleeping and that it was just crazy."

"I can't believe he had the nerve to do something like that. He's such a jerk. I think you and Nessie need to come home with me right now." She was angry.

"For what? Anyway I can't. Jake's picking me us up after lunch to go see Charlie. I need to fill in some paperwork for his release or something." We walked to the living room. Alice had a weird look on her face. What was going on, I wondered.

"Hey Nessie, wanna go see Esme? She was making chocolate chip cookies just for you." Alice smiled sweetly at me little girl, who started jumping up and down on the couch.

"Yes! Mommy can we go please?" she pleaded with those beautiful green eyes of hers.

"Thanks Alice. Sure baby, go get your coat on." I smiled at her and turned to glare at Alice who just winked back.

Twenty minutes later we were pulling up at the Cullens. Everything seemed extremely quiet, which was strange, given the fact that whenever Emmet, Jasper and Edward were together, it was chaos. Maybe they just weren't home.

We went inside as Esme was coming out of the kitchen. Nessie immediately ran to her and gave her a hug. Then Edward walked into the room. He stopped short as soon as he saw us. He stared at me and then glared at Alice. What was going on?

"Daddy!" Nessie ran to him. He picked her up and gave her a kiss, not taking his eyes away from me. And then I understood.

"Edward, babe, you never told me you had a daughter?" we all turned our heads to look at a very beautiful red head woman who walked up to Edward and kissed his cheek.

I could see Nessie's confusion and then I felt every pair of eyes in that room focused on me. But that didn't bother me. My mind hadn't even registered the fact that this woman had called Edward 'babe' or that she had kissed him. The only thing my brain was reacting to was the sparkling diamond ring on the woman's left hand. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I was starting to feel dizzy when he spoke.

"Bella, this is Victoria, my fiancée."

I realized he was waiting for me to say something, but I just couldn't. "Mommy, what's a fiancée?" my baby asked sweetly.

"Breathe Bella, just breathe." Alice whispered squeezing my hand. I had been so wrong to think things were finally working out. This was just so not true. My life couldn't get any worse.

_**OK DON'T KILL ME! SHE NEEDED TO BE IN THE STORY. WHAT DO YOU THINK BELLA'S GOING TO DO NOW? PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!**_


	9. Chapter 9

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**SORRY FOR THE DELAY! AS I TOLD SOME OF U I HAD EXAMS AGAIN…I KNOW…AND THAT HAD ME REALLY BUSY SO I COULDN'T WRITE AT ALL…AND SINCE I'M WRITING A CHAPTER AT A TIME…IT TOOK ME A LITTLE TIME TO BE ABLE TO POST THIS ONE, SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME! **_

_**I KNOW SOME OF **__**YOU JUST WANT TO KILL EDWARD RIGHT NOW, BUT REMEMBER THIS IS A BELLA/EDWARD STORY, ALTHOUGH I PROMISE NOT TO MAKE THINGS EASY FOR HIM AT ALL!!! ENJOY!!!!**_

**CH.****9**

Life is just funny. I was sitting on the front porch of the Cullens' house waiting for Jake to pick me up, and I just kept remembering my baby's sweet voice when she asked what a fiancée was, and Alice squeezing my hand asking me to breathe. Next thing I knew, this girl, Victoria, was demanding to know who the hell I was and why the fuck Edward had never told her he had a daughter. Yeah, in those exact same words. That made me come out of my state of shock. How dare she use that type of language in front of a six year-old child?

"Excuse me, but there's a child present. Could you please watch your language?" I glared at her.

"Come on Nessie, let's go get those chocolate chip cookies." Esme said to a wide-eyed Nessie taking her hand. I smiled at her gratefully.

When I turned back to look at Edward, Victoria was looking at me with the angriest expression I have ever seen. She seemed to be so shallow and superficial. I never thought Edward would be interested in that type of person, but it seems he wasn't the same boy I knew anymore. That made me sad. And to think that I so stupidly had thought that maybe…just maybe…no, what was I thinking? First, I hadn't even imagined I was going to be seeing him again. Anyway, he having a fiancée reminded me of how things really were between us. But, he had kissed me, hadn't he? And it had been such an amazing kiss. I don't think we had ever kissed that way before. Oh this heart of mine. It was all just so overwhelming.

"So you're the high school girlfriend? Is that it?" Victoria smirked.

"I'm Bella, and yes, I was Edward's girlfriend when we were in high school." I managed to say.

"And you went and had a kid together? You had a kid with her? When were you fucking going to tell me Edward? After we were already fucking married?" she turned and yelled at Edward. I decided it was time to walk away. This was not my problem.

So that brings me back to me sitting on the front porch. I could still hear them arguing inside and I just hoped Esme was distracting Nessie. All this was going to be pretty hard to explain as it was, without adding any more fighting and cursing to it. I glanced up and noticed a car approaching. It was the rest of the family. As they walked towards me, I noticed the look on their faces. Rosalie was angry, Jasper was concerned and Emmet looked guilty.

"So, I guess you met her?" Rose's tone was harsh.

"If you're referring to Edward's fiancée, yes I just met her. Very well spoken girl, by the way." I scoffed.

Rose sat beside me and patted my hand, as Jasper walked past us to go find Alice I imagined. Emmet just stood in front of us, his face down, trying to find something to do.

"I bet this has all been shocking, hasn't it?" Rose spoke more gently.

"It was a surprise, yes. But I guess it's not something that wasn't bound to happen. I mean, Edward's a pretty good looking guy, and it's been 7 years. It's normal that he found someone to share his life with. What I don't get is why you didn't tell me. It would've been better to be prepared and not act like a complete fool, which is what I did." I turned to look at Rose.

But Alice answered instead, "We didn't know Bella. She showed up here this morning surprising everyone, even Edward. So he was left with nothing else to do than introduce her. No one even knew Edward had a girlfriend." I turned around to see her standing by the door, Jasper's arm around her.

"No, that's not true Alice. There's one person who knew everything. One person who deliberately hid his knowledge of the whole thing. He even helped pick out the ring!" Rose stood up and yelled at Emmet. So this is why she was so angry. And I knew it wasn't so much the fact that Emmet knew about Victoria, as the fact that he had kept it a secret from Rosalie.

"Come on babe, I already apologized for not telling you. Give me a break!" Emmet raised his hands in the air and took a step forward.

"Stay right there Emmet Cullen. Don't come near me or I will not be responsible for my actions. I'm your wife! And you lied to me!" I had never seen Rosalie so angry before.

"I didn't lie to you babe, he's my brother. What was I supposed to do?" Emmet walked away towards the back of the house.

"Oh no you don't. Don't walk away from me!" she yelled walking after him. I could understand Emmet's point of view. He's Edward's older brother. Of course he would've gone to him for advice. What I didn't get is why he had kept everything from his family? Wouldn't he have wanted to share the news with them? At least with his parents? This was all so weird.

The conversation ended when I saw Jacob's car coming down the driveway. Thank God, I thought. I waved at him and walked into the house to get Nessie, there was no way I was leaving her with that woman anywhere near. I found her in the kitchen baking some cookies with Esme. She grinned widely when I told her Uncle Jake had come to take us to see Charlie.

Edward and Victoria were sitting on the living room when I came out of the kitchen with Nessie. Edward immediately stood up when he saw Nessie with her coat on.

"Where are you going?" he asked coming closer.

"Jacob's here to pick us up. Nessie, say goodbye to your father, we can't keep Uncle Jake waiting. It's not nice baby." I smiled at her sweetly.

"Bye daddy." She waved at him. It was clear that Esme had saved me the trouble of explaining to Nessie what a fiancée was. She was a bit quiet around Edward now.

"No, wait. Leave her here Bella. I've barely seen her today."

"Well, that's not my fault, is it?" I glared at him.

"You can't do this Bella! She's my kid too!" oh you did not just raise your voice at me Mr.

"Oh shut the hell up Edward!" I yelled and walked away tugging Nessie behind. She didn't say a word. I think she was as surprised by my reaction as I was.

I was completely quiet the whole drive to the hospital. I guess it was about time I finally got angry at Edward. And man was I angry. Jacob kept looking at me with this weird expression on his face and then he would look at Nessie and back at me. He was very curious about the whole thing.

"Uncle Jake, did you know daddy has a fiancée?" Nessie asked. Jacob opened his eyes widely and turned to look at me, understanding flashing in his eyes.

"Is that true Bella?"

"Yes, she arrived today. Her name's Victoria." I sighed turning to look out the window. I was not in the mood for Jacob's million questions.

"She's very pretty." Nessie said quietly. I groaned. "But mommy, I thought now you and daddy and I would be together. Why is he marrying someone else?"

Oh God no. What do I say now? Oh I hated Edward so much at this moment. I wanted to protect Nessie so much from all this drama; she was just a little girl. But he was her dad and if he was going to be in her life, there was nothing I could do to keep her out of this situation.

Jacob saved me by telling Nessie a new story about his father Billy. He was also talking about his new friends and how cool they were.

"You gotta meet them Bella. I've told them so much about you and Nessie that they can't wait to meet you guys. Maybe now that Charlie's settled down back in Forks, you can come one day to La Push with me. We'll have a barbecue or something." He sounded so excited that I couldn't find it in my heart to say no. So we agreed that as soon as Charlie was back home we would arrange for a trip down to La Push. Nessie was jumping up and down when we finally got to the hospital.

We were in Charlie's room talking about his release when Carlisle walked in. He started talking to Charlie about all the precautions he would now have to have to take good care of himself. Meanwhile, I could feel him steal glances at me from time to time. I just smiled and asked the appropriate questions when it was time. I knew he was worried about me, but I had to make him see that it was all going to be ok. Even if I didn't believe that myself.

It was already dark when Carlisle dropped us off at Charlie's house. Jacob had had to leave early to help Billy at home with something so Carlisle had offered to drive us to Forks. I had just put Nessie to sleep when the doorbell rang. It was almost 9:00 o'clock. Who on earth could it be? I was really surprised to see Edward standing at the door. God, what does he want now?

"What are you doing here Edward? Nessie is already asleep." I stood standing between him and the door.

"Aren't you going to let me in? It's freezing out here." He shivered. I reluctantly stood aside to let him in. We stood there, facing each other in complete awkward silence for a few minutes.

"As I said, Nessie's asleep." I walked over to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water.

"Why didn't you answer my calls today? I called you a bunch of times." He followed me into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry. I honestly don't know where I left my phone. I think I left it at your house. But, anyway, why did you want to talk to me so badly? I thought you were pretty busy, with your fiancée and all."

"I just feel that you're being pretty unfair about this whole situation. You can't just grab Nessie and leave just because you feel like it. She's my daughter too." What? My mind couldn't register what he was saying. Who was this man?

"I'm her mother Edward, and if I feel an environment's not suitable for her, I will remove her from it."

"Oh, so now you're saying that being with me is not suitable for her?"

"Not when you're with your girlfriend. Didn't you hear the way she was speaking in front of Nessie? She didn't care there was a child in the same room. I'm sorry, but it's unacceptable." I was standing right in front of him, my hands bawled into fists. My patience was reaching its limit.

"I am marrying Victoria Bella. Nessie's going to be around her a lot. You better get used to it." His tone was harsh and it made me feel so sad. I just didn't recognize who the person standing before me was.

"I think it's better if you leave Edward." I glared at him.

"I will fight you Bella. I have rights. Don't make me do it." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Of all the times I had imagined meeting Edward again, I never thought he would be such a cynical person. My heart was full of sorrow. I noticed his face softened suddenly and saw pain in his eyes. He reached and touched my face. That's when I realized there were tears involved. Why was I so stupid to cry in front of him? I didn't want him to see how much all this situation was affecting me. He could marry whoever he wanted, why was I reacting this way? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Bella…don't…"

"I'm fine." I walked past him towards the front door, as I cleaned my face. I felt him grab my arm as I was about to reach the door and before I knew it his arms were around me. I didn't have time to react to that when I felt his lips on mine. But this time it was a soft and gentle kiss, as if he wanted to comfort me. Well, this was the worst form of comfort he could offer me. When he broke the kiss, I was stunned.

"I don't want to hurt you Bella." He touched his forehead to mine and sighed, closing his eyes.

"You just did." I whispered stepping away from him. I saw the look of confusion in his eyes, just before I slapped him with all the strength I had. The look of shock on his face was priceless. God that had felt so good.

"Bella..why…" he rubbed his cheek, where a red blotch was now appearing.

"Leave Edward."

"But…"

"Get out!" I yelled, "get the hell out of my house now!" I pointed at the door making him turn around and open the door. He stood there for a minute looking at me and then he left, closing the door behind him.

I didn't even think about Nessie as I sat down against the closed door and cried my eyes out. Who did he think he was? He couldn't just kiss me whenever he felt like it. He was getting married for Christ's sake. And didn't he have any clue how much he had actually hurt me with that simple kiss? My heart felt so heavy and the ache I was feeling was indescribable. I knew the reason I felt this way was because I wanted his kisses to really mean something. I know, I'm stupid. Isn't it enough to find out that he has this super model girlfriend? But Nessie's words kept playing over and over in my head. She wanted us to be together. What did I want? What Edward wanted was clear; he was forming a new family of his own. There was no room there for me.

I stood up and went to the bathroom to wash my face. It seemed that my little outburst hadn't woken Nessie up, which was a relief. I curled up in bed beside her. Right now my little girl was the only one keeping me sane. I fell asleep with thoughts of Edward in my head.

Thank God the next day was pretty busy. Charlie was released from the hospital around noon. Jacob took us all to lunch before getting Charlie settled into his house. I spent the rest of the day making sure Charlie was comfortable and getting some last minute bathroom stuff for him. The phone rang when I had just finished given Nessie her supper.

"What on earth happened last night?" Alice, I should've guessed, "Come on, I've been pretty decent, letting you get Charlie all settled in and everything, now spill."

"What are you talking about Alice?"

"My brother came home last night with half of his face blotchy red. It was so funny seeing him trying to make up an excuse for Victoria, but I knew he had gone to see you. So Bella, what did he do? You know I'll find out sooner or later."

"Fine. He came here demanding I don't remember what now, and then he threatened me about his rights and then I was crying and then he kissed me, again, and then I slapped him and then I yelled for him to leave…" I took in a deep breath when I was over.

"Hold on, slow down a sec. He threatened you? That little shit. I don't care if he's my brother. That's not the way Esme and Carlisle raised us. Oh they're going to be furious with him."

"No Alice, you can't tell them. I don't want to be responsible for any more problems between you guys. Just, let it be ok? He's Nessie's father and nothing will change that. I don't want things to be worse than they already are, for her sake."

"You're too good Bella. I would've done more than slap him. He's such an asshole honestly. But he's going to listen to me. I don't care if his arrogant girlfriend's there, he will listen to me. Now, can I say goodbye to my niece? Thanksgiving break is over and I have to head back to Chicago now."

"Oh right. I had forgotten all about that. I guess you guys are all leaving tomorrow. I'll put Nessie on."

Nessie talked to Alice for like half an hour and then to the rest of the family. At least she would still have her grandparents nearby. I hadn't thought how things would change now that Edward was going back to Chicago. If he started asking for Nessie to go spend time with him there, I would simply die. I had never been separated from her that way. I'm not sure how I would handle something like that. But it seems that he had understood my message. He didn't show up again at Charlie's house, and for that I was grateful.

A few days went by and Edward would call every day to talk to Nessie. I could hear her giggle on the phone and wonder what on earth they were talking about. I had dropped Nessie twice at the Cullens to spend the day with Esme and Carlisle, she was ecstatic to go there every time.

We had finally accepted Jacob's invitation to go to La Push one Sunday when Charlie was feeling a lot better. It was such a fun day. Everyone was just so happy to see him fully recovered and in such a good mood. We were all sitting around the grill when Billy looked up and smiled.

"Well son, it seems your friends finally decided to show up." He smiled at two very attractive young guys walking toward us. One of them caught my attention. He had olive colored skin, broad shoulders and coal colored eyes. His smile was really sexy too.

"Hello guys, nice of you to make it." Jacob shook their hands and invited them to join us.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." One of them said smiling.

"Here, let me introduce you to everyone. These are some extended members of our family," Jake grinned at us making me smile back at him, "Charlie Swan, chief of police of Forks, who I'm sure you've heard of."

"Hey, I'm not that tough on you kids." Charlie laughed.

"Sure, sure Charlie. This is my best friend Bella Swan and her little girl Nessie." Jacob continued with the introductions.

"So you're the famous Bella. Jake doesn't shut up about you. I'm Jared. Nice to meet you." The slimmer guy said I smiled back.

"Nice to meet you too Jared."

"And this is Paul." Jake pointed at the other guy.

"It's nice to finally put a face to the name. I'm very pleased to meet you Bella." He kissed my hand making me blush.

"Umm…same here." I managed to say. Wow, he was hot.

We were having such a great time that we hadn't even noticed it was dark already until I felt Nessie asleep against my shoulder. Jacob was carrying Nessie to the car, while Charlie said goodbye to Billy. I was helping finish cleaning up when I felt someone behind me. It was Paul.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He helped me put some glasses away.

"It's ok. Thanks for the help." I was willing myself not to blush when he's next comment distracted me.

"So I think we should go out."

"What?" I blurted.

"Hey, no pressure. It's just, you're single right?" I nodded not able to speak. "I'm single too. So I don't see any reason not to give it a try. No strings attached don't worry. I like you Bella, and I can feel you like me too. So, what do you say?" he was standing so close to me I had to look up into his eyes and I saw honesty there.

"Ok." I whispered.

"Great." He grinned. "I'll call you later during the week to set it up." He walked away then leaving me all flustered and blushing like crazy.

I spent the rest of the night just thinking about what it meant going out with Paul. No, forget about that. Not what it meant to go out with Paul; what it meant to go out period. On a date. With someone. I had never done that. Not since Edward. Not since Nessie. I was very nervous about it. But it was a happy nervous. I was getting really excited about this date. What did that mean?

_**SOOO WHAT DID YOU GUYS THINK? I KNOW MAYBE IT WASN'T SUCH AN EXCITING CHAPTER BUT I PROMISE IT'S A GLIMPSE OF WHAT'S COMING NEXT…DON'T WORRY…IT'S STILL AN EDWARD/BELLA STORY AND I'M GETTING THERE…BUT LET'S SEE HOW EDWARD TAKES THE WHOLE BELLA-DATING DEAL…**_


	10. Chapter 10

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**HEY GUYS! I PROMISED NOT TO KEEP U WAITING THAT LONG SO HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER! HOPE U LIKE IT AS MUCH AS I LUVED WRITING IT! **_

_**THANK YOU ALL FOR UR WONDERFUL REVIEWS, I ENJOY THEM PRETTY MUCH! SO**__**ME OF YOU MAKE ME LAUGH SO MUCH, IN A GOOD WAY! SO WITHOUT ANY MORE BORING WORDS, HERE'S "EDWARD'S REACTION" LOL….**_

**CH.****10**

Things were getting really "normal" at Charlie's. He was starting to do more things around the house now, well, at least he would help me with the dishes and he would make his own bed. I was sleeping with Nessie in my old bed, which meant not such good sleeping hours for me. The bed was too small for both of us, but it was either that or the couch. I hated sleeping on couches. Even if Christmas was approaching, talking with my mom made me realize that I had to enroll Nessie in school. As much as she loved spending time with Esme, she needed to go to school or she would get so behind and would have to repeat the whole year. I was not going to let that happen.

Paul had called to set up our date, which would be the coming Friday. I had been so nervous on the phone. I was not ready for it, but I was giving it a try anyway. I needed to go shopping, I hadn't brought any nice clothes with me and I wasn't just going out in my old jeans. Oh how I missed Alice at this moment. As if reading my mind, she called and when I told her about my date with Paul, she squealed so loud that I had to hang up on her. She called back and then helped me buy some new clothes. It's amazing how having cameras on your phones these days helps.

I was all set for my date now, so it was time to get Nessie enrolled in school. I dressed her up nicely and we walked over to the preschool, which was just two blocks away. I honestly needed to rent or buy a car soon. We got to the principal's office, where a very nice lady was sitting behind a desk.

"Good morning ma'am. I would like to speak to the principal please? I want to enroll my daughter in school." The lady looked up smiling at us. She looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't place her.

"Oh my sweet lord, if it isn't Chief Swan's little girl. It's so nice to see you honey. And you're a mommy now. Hello sweetie." She winked at Nessie.

"Hi." Nessie giggled.

"I'm sorry, but have we met before?"

"Oh sure honey, I used to be a secretary at the police station a while ago. I've heard a lot about you over the years."

"Oh right. You were always at the front desk in the station. I remember now." I smiled at her.

"Let me show you to the principal's office. She'll be back in about 10 minutes; you can wait for her inside." She showed us to a very nice office where we sat to wait for Principal Mercer.

The meeting went well. She thought Nessie was adorable and walked with me afterwards to Nessie's classroom. Class had already started, but she assured me it would be no problem.

"Umm excuse me Mrs. Cheney, it seems you have a new student." Principal Mercer said as she opened the door, letting us into the classroom. Wait, did she just say Mrs. Cheney? No way. But yes, there she was. My high school friend was now a preschool teacher. Angela looked as surprised as I must've looked when she saw me. I then smiled at her.

"Ang! Why didn't you tell me you were a teacher too?" I hugged her smiling.

"You never gave me chance." She laughed. We had totally forgotten we weren't alone there, until Principal Mercer cleared her throat.

"Oh I'm sorry Principal Mercer." Angela blushed and looked down.

"It seems you know each other."

"Yes, we went to high school together. I just never imagined you would be a teacher Ang. Umm…I mean, Mrs. Cheney." I grinned.

"So umm…Nessie, welcome to my class. Everyone say welcome Nessie." Angela was in teacher mode again.

"Welcome Nessie!" all the kids said making Nessie smile. I left her there with Angela, as I walked back to Principal Mercer's office. I knew Nessie was in good hands.

Principal Mercer had said she wished to speak to me a bit more before I left. She was looking through some papers while I just sat there. I had no idea what she wanted. I had given her Nessie's previous school information so that she could ask for her transcripts. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Excuse me Principal Mercer, here's the information you requested." The secretary lady handed her some documents.

"Thank you Pat. That was quick." She smiled at her before she closed the door. Then she turned to look at me. "If I'm not wrong, I heard maybe you implied you're a teacher too?"

"Yes, I am. Or I was, anyway. Before I had to come here I used to be a teacher, a preschool teacher as a matter of fact." I was getting nervous. Where was this going?

"Well, I asked Pat to ask for Nessie's transcripts and your résumé."

"What for?" I panicked. I was being stupid, I know. But I felt like a student again being called to the principal's office.

"Relax Miss Swan…"

"Bella, please."

"Bella. It's just that, I'm actually looking for a substitute teacher right now. You know, someone that can help whenever any of our staff can't come to work. And something tells me you could be perfect for that position. What do you say?" she was smiling so widely I was speechless.

"Are you offering me a job?" I couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true.

"I know you're helping out chief Swan at home, so I honestly think this would be perfect for you. It's a part time job, which allows you to still be at home helping your father out."

"You're right. It's perfect. Thank you, thank you." I was so excited I jumped up from the chair and hugged Principal Mercer.

"I take that as a yes." She laughed.

I ran home to tell dad the good news. He was really happy for me. He said it was about time I started doing something for me. I had been taking care of him and Nessie and neglecting my own needs. I was bouncing up and down like Nessie used to do all the time. It was just too good to be true.

I hadn't wanted to accept how much peace it brought me, not having to worry about Edward anymore. Maybe it was a sign of my subconscious telling me that I was better off not having him in my life at all. Well, not not at all, he was still Nessie's father.

And so the day of my famous date arrived. I have to admit I was missing Alice a lot. She was usually the one that would've been dressing me and putting make-up on me and doing my hair. Or at least that's what she used to do when we were back in high school and we were all going out or something. I felt so lonely at the moment. I mean, it's not that I couldn't do all that myself; it was just that I needed her energy and her advice and her approval too. I couldn't just go to Charlie and ask him " hey dad, how do I look?" It just didn't feel right.

Anyway, I dressed in my new jeans and nice new modern long purple sweater; I had a black trendy belt around my hips and a pair of black boots. I looked at my image in the mirror and for a minute I didn't recognize who that was. I looked like a woman, young and full of life. My cheeks were a bit flushed but that was ok. I felt carefree and excited. I hadn't felt like this in more than 7 years. I grabbed my coat and headed for the living room. Charlie was watching a game on TV, while Nessie was drawing with some crayons. They both looked up at me and smiled.

"Mommy you look so beautiful." Nessie ran and hugged me.

"Thank you baby. I feel beautiful too." I smiled back at her.

"You have a very good time today Bella. And don't worry about anything else." Charlie winked at me, making me blush.

"Thanks dad." The doorbell rang.

Paul was looking so hot I was having a hard time trying not to stare at him. We were having dinner at my favorite restaurant, Cactus. Just the name reminded me so much of Arizona that I had fallen in love with the place the first time I had been there. After we ordered our food, I noticed Paul was staring at me and of course, I started blushing like a tomato.

"Oh God." I put my hands over my cheeks to try and hide it, but it was no use.

Paul laughed, "Don't hide it, it's so cute."

"It's been my curse my whole life. I haven't met any other person that has the ability to become as red as a tomato in just a second." I drank a bit of water to see if it would help.

"It's actually a pretty attractive trait. It shows your emotions and makes you so easy to read."

"And that's attractive?" I smirked.

"Sure. Gives me a heads up as to how the night is going." He said huskily. I gulped.

We started talking about Nessie and Charlie and Jacob. I was really enjoying this date thing. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all. Wait a minute; I can't plan in the future, what if he doesn't ask me out again? Stop being so ridiculous Bella. If you can read him the same way he can read you, it all points at a second date. I was surprised to realize I was actually looking forward to it.

We were taking a short walk around some coffee shops, my arm through Paul's, and I was laughing at something he was saying, when the door to one of the shops opened and out came a smiling couple. A very familiar smiling couple. I froze. Paul noticed I had stopped moving and I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn't speak. I was only looking at a pair of dazzling green eyes that were looking back at me with shock and surprise.

"Bella?" his eyes travelling all over me.

"Edward, Victoria, I thought you were already back in Chicago. This is a surprise." I found myself saying.

"No honey, we didn't leave at all. I had a few days off before I have to go back to work." Victoria flashed me one of her top model smiles. Fake, just as she was.

"I see. I had no idea. That's nice. I'm sure Carlisle and Esme don't see too much of their son."

"Are you out on a date?" Edward was looking at Paul and then back at me.

"I think that's obvious babe." Victoria smirked and then turned her fake smile at Paul.

"Oh how rude of me. Yes, this is Paul. Paul these are Edward Cullen and Victoria." I made the introductions.

"I'm Edward's fiancée." Victoria shook Paul's hand. I don't know why she needed to emphasize that. Maybe to state her place or something.

"Nice to meet you both." Paul smiled at them. My hold on his arm tightened when I saw Edward's eyes darken all of a sudden. What was his deal? Paul noticed and glanced at me. I gave him a small smile.

"Nice of you to have time to go out Bella." He scoffed.

"I…" he wouldn't let me talk.

"So where's Nessie? You left her alone?"

"Never. She's with Charlie." I raised my chin at him.

"Oh and that's ok? You left our daughter alone at night with a man who's still recovering from a heart attack, while you go out and have a little fun? Is that what a good mother does?" I saw comprehension flash in Paul's eyes as my brain registered what Edward had said.

"My father's very capable of taking care of his granddaughter. So if by your standards that makes me a lousy mother, so be it Edward. I really don't care what you think anymore. It was nice seeing you again Victoria. Good night." I tugged at Paul's arm and we started walking away.

I noticed Edward hadn't said a word back to me. I glanced back at them and he was looking at me with the oddest expression on his face. He seemed angry at first, but then…I just couldn't really place it.

Paul didn't say a word while we walked to his car. I was so lost in my thoughts that I really didn't pay attention to what was happening around me, until I saw Charlie's cruiser in the driveway. Where had the time gone? I sighed and turned to look at Paul.

"I'm so sorry Paul. I ruined the night."

"What are you saying Bella? Nothing was ruined. I had a really good time." He sounded so sincere.

"You did? All that drama at the end, we we're having such a good time."

"Yes, we were having a good time. But it's ok Bella, really. I mean, I get it. His Nessie's father so there's bound to be some awkwardness. What I don't get, is why he's so jealous. He's getting married, isn't he?" What had he just said? Jealous? Edward? No, that was impossible.

"What makes you think Edward was jealous? He was just being a jerk. The same he's been lately. I really don't care what he says anymore."

"Bella, I'm a guy. And as I guy I tell you, that was jealousy. A 100% jealousy. You didn't notice the look he was giving me. It was as if he was shooting darts through his eyes at me. Creepy." Paul touched my shoulder.

"But it doesn't make any sense."

"Well, you would know that better than me. But yeah, giving the fact that he had his fiancée right next to him, it doesn't make any sense."

"Forget about him. Thank you for a wonderful evening. I really enjoyed it." I smiled.

"I really enjoyed it too. Maybe we should make something different the next time. Like go rock climbing or something." He covered my hand with his.

"Next time?" I stuttered, feeling the blush appear on my face.

"Sure, next time. I'll give you a call soon." He squeezed my hand.

"Ok." I managed to say. I couldn't take my eyes away from his.

"Have a good night Bella, sweet dreams." I felt him lean towards me and then he gave me a kiss on my cheek. I opened my eyes to find him smiling. I smiled back as I opened the car's door. I waved as he drove away, thinking that this was the kind of behavior Edward should learn from.

Edward, why the hell was I thinking of Edward? Here you go again Bella Swan. Well, I guess it was the surprise of seeing him still in Forks when I thought he was a few thousand miles away. And, could he really have been jealous of Paul? No Bella, don't even think of going there. You don't need him to mess up your life anymore than it already is.

I sighed and went into the house. Everything was pretty dark and quiet so I did my best not to make any loud noises. I got into bed as fast as I could trying not to disturb Nessie. She suddenly turned and buried her little face on my shoulder. I hugged her to me.

"I love you mommy." She whispered, bringing tears to my eyes. How had I gotten so lucky?

"I love you too baby." I kissed her forehead and soon we were both sound asleep.

Next morning I woke up to loud voices coming from the first floor. I got up and started going down the stairs, not even caring about how I looked. I was really curious.

"Hey Bella, good morning." Carlisle smiled at me.

"Hello Carlisle. This is an early visit."

"Yeah, I came to check up on Charlie."

"I told him I'm as healthy as a horse. Aren't I Bells?" Charlie grinned at me.

"Sure, sure dad." I giggled.

"And well…I tagged along. I hope you don't mind." Edward suddenly came out of the kitchen holding a cup of coffee.

"More like, begged to come along?" Carlisle smirked.

"Well, I wanted to see Nessie. What's wrong with that?" he looked up avoiding our eyes.

"If you say so." Carlisle winked at me. This was all very amusing to him.

"I'm sure she'll be up any minute now." I hadn't moved from my spot near the stairs yet.

"Nice morning look by the way, not at all compared to your sophisticated night look." Edward glanced at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I glared at him.

"Umm…Bells…you might wanna go look at a mirror?" Charlie opened his eyes widely at me, raising his eyebrows, while Carlisle laughed. I ran to the bathroom. And sure, there I was in all my morning glory. My hair was all tangled up and resembling Medusa, and there was makeup smeared around my eyes. Great, just great. Why hadn't I gone to the bathroom before going downstairs? Well, it was too late for that now. I composed myself as much as I could before going back to the living room.

"Much better honey." Charlie laughed.

"Shut up dad." I walked into the kitchen. Edward followed me, of course.

"Bella, can we talk?" he had this sincere look that as much as I had promised myself I didn't care anymore, I couldn't help the little jump my heart did.

"Ok."

"Listen, I…"

"Daddy!" Nessie yelled running into Edward's arms, and ending our conversation in the process. I sighed. Maybe it was better this way. I stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

_**DID YOU LIKE IT??? LET ME KNOW!!!!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**SO…I GOT A LITTLE DISTRACTED THIS WEEKEND, IT BEING MY BDAY AND ALL…BUT HERE U HAVE CH.11. ONCE MORE THANKS FOR UR REVIEWS!**___

**CH.****11**

Carlisle and Charlie were inside watching a game, while Edward played with Nessie in the backyard. I was just watching them through a window, not wanting to intrude in their moment. As much as I had feared the day when I would have had to tell Edward about Nessie, I knew I had done the right thing. She deserved to have him in her life, regardless of the issues between us. He was her daddy, after all. They looked so happy together.

I sighed and went outside.

"Nessie, baby, it's time for you to come have lunch." I walked towards them.

"Oh mommy, really? I'm having so much fun with daddy." She whined.

"Go on Nessie, your mother's right. We can continue playing after you eat all your food." Edward looked at me and smiled. He was sure acting totally different today. His mood swings were really confusing me.

We watched Nessie eat at the kitchen not saying a word to each other. We would only answer to Nessie's comments and laugh with her too. It was almost as if we were a family, almost.

"Hey kiddo, you done?" Charlie walked into the kitchen, followed by Carlisle.

"Yes grandpa Charlie, I ate everything." She smiled widely at him. It was clear how much she adored him.

"That's great Nessie. So, you ready to go get ice cream now?" Carlisle grinned at her.

"Oh really?! Can I go mommy?"

"Sure baby. Go wash your hands then you can go." I smiled at her and then looked up when Edward chuckled. Charlie and Carlisle had an amused look on their faces. Oh, I get it. They wanted Edward and me to be able to talk, without Nessie there. Clever.

After Charlie, Carlisle and Nessie left, I went to organize my room a bit, while Edward was in the bathroom. I was making up the bed when I felt him behind me. I turned around to find him looking all around the room.

"I thought it would be different, but everything's exactly as I remembered it." He frowned.

"Well, I hadn't been here in 7 years, so yeah, I guess Charlie didn't change anything."

"Are you and Nessie both sleeping in that narrow little bed?"

"Yeah, I haven't have time to get something bigger. But it isn't so bad." I averted my eyes, but he caught my lie.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry Bella." I looked up at him. There was this weird shine in his eyes I didn't know what to make of it.

"About what Edward?"

"About last night. About all the things I said. I had no right to insult you that way and I'm sorry for that. It was not my place. It's not like I've been there for Nessie that much either."

"That's not your fault Edward. You didn't know." I turned around and finished making up the bed. I couldn't look at him right now.

"I guess in part it is my fault, but that's in the past now. I wanna try something new." I turned around to find him staring at me.

"And what would that be?"

"Can we try to be friends Bella? For Nessie's sake?" he smiled at me. He wanted to be my friend? What do I say to that? I was completely speechless. I wanted to be mad at him, to yell at him and tell him he was the biggest jerk on this planet. That he had fucked up big time. But he wanted us to be friends? I hadn't expected that. I knew we couldn't keep on fighting the whole time, but I wasn't sure I was ready to be his friend.

"I know we haven't really had a time to talk, catch up or anything, and I know we'll have to learn to be around each other and be comfortable with that again, so why don't we try it?" he walked closer to me. I looked at his eyes and got lost in them, as always. And just when I was about to answer, we were interrupted, again.

"Bells?! You home?" Jacob yelled from the first floor. Great, Jacob. Not that I wasn't happy to see him, it's just that I knew why he was there. He wanted the details about my date with Paul.

I walked downstairs followed closely by Edward. When Jacob saw him behind me, his eyes narrowed and he quickly searched my face. I smiled at him and that made him relax a little. I loved how protective he was of me. My best friend. Which is something Edward and I could never be, friends. I was clear about that now.

"Hey Jake." I hugged him. He put his arms tightly around me.

"Hello Jacob." Edward walked towards us.

"Cullen." Jake narrowed his eyes again, "Is everything ok Bells?"

"Sure Jake, we were just talking. Clearing some things up." I looked from Edward back to Jake. God I could feel the tension in the room.

"Ok, so tell me? How was your date with Paul?" He smiled wickedly at me. Oh he was doing this in purpose in front of Edward. I stole a quick glance at Edward and then turned to answer Jacob.

"We had a great time. Paul's a really great guy." I smiled.

"Awesome! Next time we'll all do something together." He winked at me.

Edward cleared his throat. "I guess I better go. Is it ok if I pick up Nessie tomorrow, take her to the beach or something?"

"I guess she'd love that. Thanks Edward." I smiled at him. He smiled back before nodding at Jacob and leaving.

Jacob and I stayed the rest of the afternoon talking about Paul and his other friends and all the plans he had for us to all do together. He seemed as excited as a little kid with the whole Paul and me dating situation. I have to confess I felt excited too. It was something new, something different.

Early next morning, Edward showed up with Carlisle and Esme. There was a big weird truck parked outside. They were all sitting in the living room with Charlie, when Nessie and I came downstairs.

"Morning Bells. Look who came to visit." Charlie winked at me. What was going on? That was two visits of Carlisle in a row, and now Esme too?

"Nice to see you Esme." I hugged her. "So Carlisle, again checking on dad?"

"Not really, Edward needed help so here I am."

"Huh?" I was confused. Help with what?

"I guess since you're both up, finally, we'll proceed now." Carlisle walked towards the door, followed by Edward.

"He wanted to surprise you, but he didn't know how you would take it, so that's why I'm here." Esme squeezed my arm gently.

"What are you talking about Esme?"

"Mommy look! It's a bed!" Nessie was jumping up and down at the window. I went to look out myself. And sure, there it was. Carlisle and Edward were loading down from the truck parts of what looked like a big bed. I could feel my eyes open widely.

"Why would he do this?" I whispered.

"He mentioned you guys were sleeping on your childhood bed Bella, and we couldn't let that happen. There are more beds than we really need at our house." Esme smiled at me.

"Oh Esme thank you." I hugged her.

"You're welcome honey, but it was really his idea. All Edward." I was still stunned by the whole issue. It seems he was taking really serious the whole friend thing. It was a very nice gesture. Nessie loved the bed. As soon as it was all ready in my room, which I had to rearrange completely to fit the bed, she couldn't stop jumping on it, making us laugh. I turned to look at Edward then and mouthed a thank you to him. He just nodded his head and smiled. Oh how I loved his smile.

Maybe this 'friends' thing wasn't such a bad idea? Oh who was I kidding, I could never be friends with Edward. There was too much history between us. Too much unsaid things. But I guess we could try to be civil around each other? Not only for Nessie's sake, but for our families too. I could sense Carlisle and Charlie were on the path towards friendship and if there was something Charlie needed were more friends. He was a very lonely person. I mean, he still had Billy, but they couldn't see each other as much as they wanted to.

I was working at the school one day, when I got a call from Paul. We had talked a couple of times on the phone, but we still hadn't gone out on our second date. He told me he and Jacob had planned this really fun day at Port Angeles, a nearby town, and that I couldn't say no. I accepted gladly. I wanted to see Paul again. He made me laugh so much over the phone. I was really looking forward to spending more time with him.

On the other hand, Edward had kept his word, about the 'friends' thing. I learned he was staying until after New Year's, which wasn't for another few weeks. Meanwhile, he was taking his role as a father very seriously. He would pick Nessie up from school whenever I couldn't. By this time I had already rented a car, so it made it easier to go around. It was pretty cold by now, which made walking a bit hard. So a car came in handy. Of course I didn't rent a fancy SUV or anything like that. Just a small car, nothing big or new either.

Charlie had already gone back to work. He was trying not to put in so many hours, taking it slow, but today he was needed at the station during the night shift. The same day of my date with Paul. He was picking me up at 4, but Charlie couldn't be home. There was only one thing to do. I so hated to do it, but there was no other choice. I called Edward.

"Hello? Bella?" Esme answered his phone.

"Esme hi, how's everything going?"

"Fine honey. You wanted to talk to Edward?"

"Yes, is he around?"

"I'm sorry honey, but he went out with Carlisle for a while and left his phone. You want me to give him a message?"

"Oh he's not home? Crap. Now what am I going to do?" I sighed.

"What's wrong Bella? Do you need anything?"

"Well, the thing is that Charlie has to work the night shift today and I have no one to take care of Nessie. I was hoping Edward could."

"Take care of Nessie? Are you going out?"

"Yeah, Paul's picking me up in 40 minutes and I don't know what to do." My voice was starting to sound desperate.

"I see. Well, maybe you can drive her over and I'll be more than happy to take care of her myself. You really need to have time for yourself Bella."

"Really Esme? Would you do that?"

"Of course dear, she's my granddaughter."

"Oh thank you, thank you. I'll drive her over right away." We said our goodbyes and I got Nessie in her coat. She was really excited to spend the night with Esme.

I got to the Cullens' really fast, well, as fast as my rental would go. Esme was waiting for us at the door. She hugged Nessie and the she hugged me pretty tightly. She had this almost sad look on her face that I couldn't really figure out. I smiled and thanked her and she smiled back, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Bella, you know I love you like a daughter right?" she suddenly said surprising me.

"Yes Esme, I feel the same way about you." I hugged her.

"Just, please always remember that." She whispered into my ear. I nodded and walked away after kissing Nessie goodbye.

What had I missed? I knew Esme cared about me, but it was as if she felt I would disappear or something. As much as her words made me feel happy, that she still cared about me that way, it had been a really weird moment. I knew she missed her kids, so maybe that was it. I might call Alice later and talk about that with her.

I was back home 5 minutes before Paul was supposed to arrive. I ran up to my room and threw like every piece of clothes I owned on the bed. I needed to think fast. Paul had said to wear something comfortable. But what did that mean? Something comfortable for me was sweatpants and a t-shirt, definitely not dating clothes at all.

I was just coming out of the bathroom, having finally decided to wear just some jeans and a sweater, when the doorbell rang. I got my coat and purse and ran to open it. I was greeted with a very warm and beautiful smile.

"Hi Bella. It's really nice to finally see you again." He kept smiling at me.

"It's nice to see you again too Paul." I smiled back at him. I had forgotten how sexy he looked.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." We got in his car and listened to some great music during the ride. He told me we were meeting Jacob and other guys from La Push at a new wall climbing recreation center that had opened in Port Angeles a few months ago. I felt so relaxed with him, that my brain at first didn't register what he said we were doing. But when it finally did, my hands started shaking. Wall climbing? Me? Oh that was something new.

"Are you ok Bella? You look tense." Paul frowned.

"Sure, I'm fine. Wall climbing huh? That's a first for me." I tried to smile.

"Don't worry. You'll be perfect. I can feel it." He squeezed my hand and didn't remove his hand afterwards. It felt warm and comforting holding mine. I didn't pull mine away either. There were no sparks yet, but it felt nice.

When we arrived at the recreation center, Jacob and a whole bunch of other guys and girls were already there. He introduced me to everyone. Some of them I remembered, but others were completely new. I was still trying to get over the surprise of seeing little Seth all grown up, when I noticed everyone was starting to put on the climbing gear.

"Don't worry Bells, you'll be ok." Jacob noticed my nervous eyes, "Paul won't let anything happen to you. Right Paul?" he winked at me.

"Of course I won't. Come Bella, let me help you into your gear." He led me towards the counter to pick up a right size of gear for me. As he helped me put it on, I couldn't help my sweaty hands. Paul squeezed them one more time before smiling at me. Ok, here we go, I thought.

We all started climbing these huge walls. There were 5 or 6 of them, all with different shapes and with different degrees of difficulty. Of course I started on the easiest one and was surprised to find I did really well on it. I wasn't as fast as the others, but I managed to get to the top without falling a single time. I was really proud of myself. After going up that same wall three times, Paul decided it was time to eat something. There was only fast food at the center, which neither Paul nor I wanted, so we went to a little diner across the street. I really liked spending time with Paul. He made me forget about everything. Made me feel young and pretty. It had been a long time since I felt that way. I mean, I knew I was only 25 years old, but having become a mother so young I felt so much older.

We laughed a lot and ate really great food. We were standing at the door of the diner, ready to walk back to the center, when Paul suddenly stopped talking and just smiled at me.

"Bella, you're really beautiful." He touched my face.

"Thank you Paul. I'm having a really great time with you." I smiled back at him.

"I'm glad to hear that." Before I knew it I felt his lips on mine. I was surprised for a second, but then I returned the kiss. It was a sweet kiss. When it was over, Paul was grinning like a little kid. I smiled back at him and we started walking back to the others. I walked in complete silence. I didn't know what to say to him.

We were already back with the others, but I needed to be alone for a minute. I excused myself and almost ran to the bathroom. I was so angry at myself. I couldn't help the few tears that escaped my eyes. Was something damaged inside of me? Why couldn't I feel more for Paul? As much as I liked Paul, and spending time with him, I had felt nothing with that kiss. No sparks, no tingling in my stomach, no heart racing, nothing. It had been a sweet kiss and nothing else. At least for me. I knew it had meant much more to Paul. Well, I had decided to challenge my own self. I was going to go out there and continue to have an amazing time. Who cares if I'm not head over heels in love with Paul? That didn't mean that it couldn't happen in a future.

"Bells, are you ok?" Jacob asked me as I came out of the bathroom. He knew me too well.

"Yes Jake, don't worry. I'm fine." I smiled at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, come on. Let's go do some more of that wall climbing."

"Ok. But you'll tell me if there's something wrong."

"I will, now let's go." I pushed him a little and we walked back to the others.

Paul helped me into my climbing gear again, and we decided I was ready for level Number 2. Big mistake. I was halfway up the second wall, when my right food slipped and in an attempt to steady myself I ended up getting all tangled up in the ropes that were holding me, pulling at them roughly, making the center assistants that were helping us at the bottom fall down and let go of the ropes. This of course ended with me on the ground, my left arm under me twisted at a very weird angle. Jacob yelled, Paul cursed and then a piercing scream came out of my throat, when the numbness of the fall passed and I could feel the pain coming from my arm.

"Oh my God Bella. Are you ok?" Paul ran to me once he was down the wall and free of all the gear.

"It hurts, it hurts so much." I cried.

"We already called 911. An ambulance will be here in no time." One of the center guys said.

"No! Don't call 911. Charlie." I said between sobs.

"Bells, who cares if Charlie finds out or not, we need to get you to a hospital." Jacob was there beside me trying to help me sit down.

"Maybe we shouldn't move her. What if there's anything else broken?" Paul sounded so worried.

"I…am…not…riding…in…an...ambulance!" I cried, grabbing Jacob's shirt.

"Stop being so stubborn Bells. It's the fastest and easiest way to get you to the hospital." He said as we heard the sirens approaching. If there was something I hated in this world was ambulances. I was still crying when the paramedics put me on a gurney and rolled me into the ambulance. This date was so not going as I had imagined. What else could happen?

We arrived at the hospital in a few minutes. I guessed it was the hospital in Port Angeles, when I didn't recognize the ER there. I was familiar with the one in Forks and the one in Seattle, but this one was different.

"Bella? My God what happened?" a very familiar voice said.

"Carlisle? What are you doing here?" he started examining me all over.

"I help some times when they're shorthanded. Does this hurt?" he touched my left arm and I screamed.

"I guess it does. It's definitely broken Bella. I'm ordering you an x-ray and then I'm afraid I'll have to put a cast on it. You're lucky it's the left one." He smiled and injected me with some pain killers before leaving.

Great, I cried. What where the odds of Carlisle being just in the same hospital? This only happened to me. Now Charlie would know, and my mother would know, and Esme and Nessie and oh God Edward. This date had ended up in complete disaster.

_**OK…SO…ANY THOUGHTS? I PROMISE IT'S NOT A 30 CHAPTER STORY SO HANG IN THERE WITH ME!**_


	12. Chapter 12

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**HEY GUYS! OK HERE'S THE NEW CHAPTER**__**…THERE'S A LOT OF CONVERSATION BUT IT'S IMPORTANT…SO PAY ATTENTION.. THANXK FOR ALL UR REVIEWS!**_

**CH.****12**

The drive back home was very uncomfortable. Every bump the car made caused me pain. The effect of the pain killers Carlisle had given was starting to wear off and I had forgotten how much a broken bone hurt. My arm was in a horrible white cast, and it would have to stay that way for a couple of weeks. This was not going to be a fun Christmas at all.

I noticed Paul stole glances at me at every chance he got. I tried to smile at him, letting him know I was ok, but he wasn't buying it. He had this weird look on his face. Jacob was on the back seat dozing off. At least I knew Nessie was with Esme, so that meant I would not have to worry about her until tomorrow. I could relax that night by myself. Oh but of course it was me, and little old me never got so lucky. There, standing by my door, his arms crossed and with a look I knew very well, was none other than Edward Cullen.

"Great." I grunted.

"Oh man. What's he doing here?" Paul asked as he parked the car.

"Cullen. Ok this is totally not his business. But of course, that won't stop him, it never has." Jacob slammed the door as he got out of the car and came to help me out. Paul walked to us and the three of us walked towards Edward.

As soon as we were near him, his eyes soften as he looked at me. "Are you ok Bella?"

"Yeah, it's just a broken arm. I've had worst." I shrugged, but that brought pain, making me wince.

"It's not ok Bella. You could've gotten really hurt." His angry face was back again. "And you, you know better than to take her wall climbing? What were you thinking?" he glared at Jacob.

"What do you care Cullen? It's none of your business. What are you even doing here anyway?" Jake put a protective arm around me.

"Carlisle called. Nessie couldn't sleep back home, she wanted to come sleep on her new bed. So I brought her here."

"Nessie's here? Oh God." I sighed.

"She's sleeping. Don't worry about her Bella."

"This is my entire fault. I'm so sorry Bella." Paul squeezed my good hand.

"I'll be fine Paul." I smiled at him.

"Sure you will Bella. I don't remember you every getting hurt on any of OUR dates, but hey, every guy's different, right?" Edward scoffed.

"Look…" Paul and Jacob both started saying.

"Enough. I'm tired and I really wanna go to bed. So if you'll all excuse me, good night." I left them there and went into the house, closing the door behind me. A few seconds later, I felt the door open and close again. I turned around to find Edward standing there, looking angrier than ever.

"You sure know how to pick them Bella." He smirked walking into the kitchen.

"What's that supposed to mean? I don't criticize you're top model fiancée, so stop it." I went to get a glass of water but ended up dropping the glass on the floor. Thank God it was plastic.

"Here, let me help you." Edward picked the glass up and poured the water.

"Thanks. You can go now, I'll be ok."

I walked out to the living room, my hand shaking. I had had a very confusing and weird night for Edward to come and be the icing on the cake. I was honestly too tired. But I couldn't hold it anymore. I felt I was going to explode if I didn't get it off my chest. I marched back into the kitchen, my good hand balled into a fist, I felt my face was all red and angry tears stung my eyes.

"I want you to stay out of my business Edward." I hated that my voice was shaking, but I couldn't help it.

"Come on Bella, this guy takes you out on a date and brings you back with a broken arm? That's just not acceptable." He raised his hands.

"Acceptable by whom? By you? What do you care? Yes, your Nessie's father but that doesn't give you the right to mess up with me too!" I raised my voice trying not to yell.

"What do you think Charlie's going to say when he comes home and sees you like this?"

"That's between Charlie and me, it does not concern you." I closed my eyes.

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't. You left Edward, you left and when you did, whatever you and I had broke. It's been 7 years now. I have a right to be happy and move on with my life. I can't do this anymore. I can't let you still be controlling what I do or what I think. You have your own life too; you're getting married aren't you? You made your life somewhere else, now let me go on with mine. Leave, Edward. Please." I felt the tears escaping my closed eyes, but I couldn't stop them. I was feeling drowsy with medication and so tired.

"Don't cry Bella, please don't cry." I felt Edward's arms around me. Why couldn't he just leave? But a part of me felt so good in his arms. Like that was the right place to be.

"I can't leave Bella, not when you're like this. You're a very important part of my life and you always will be." And then he kissed me. I wasn't expecting it so I didn't have time to react. I just felt his lips on mine and before my brain could register what was happening, I was kissing him back. Suddenly I gasped and backed up into the wall.

"Why do you keep doing that?" I whispered, my eyes staring widely at him.

"I can't help it. I'm sorry. I'm so drawn to you Bella." He touched my face. I closed my eyes and felt him kiss me again.

"Come on, let's get you in bed." He walked me up to my room, where Nessie was sleeping peacefully. I got in bed, not even bothering to change, while Edward pulled the covers over me. He then sat on the side of the bed and stroked my head. He leaned down and gave me another soft kiss. How many had that been already? Three? I was feeling so dizzy and exhausted.

"We need to talk Edward. You can't keep avoiding the subject." I whispered as my eyes closed.

"I know. I promise we'll talk tomorrow. Now sleep Bella. I'll be here when you wake up." I felt him leave the room. I remember my last thought before sleep claimed me was how different Paul's kiss was from Edward's. With Paul it had just felt sweet, while every time Edward kissed me, my whole world stirred, my fingers tingled and my heart beat faster. Would it ever change?

I woke up next morning to find Nessie having breakfast in the kitchen with Charlie, while Edward was asleep on the couch. Charlie stopped eating when his eyes focused on my right arm. He looked up at me expecting an explanation. Nessie just giggled.

"Mommy you look so funny. Can I sign it?" she laughed touching the white cast. I sat down beside her, still avoiding Charlie's eyes.

"Come on Bells, fess up. What happened? Was it Edward? Cause I'll…" Charlie started to get up.

"Calm down dad, no, it had nothing to do with Edward, this time anyway." I sighed. "Actually, it happened while I was wall climbing with Paul and Jacob. I got tangled in the ropes and well, kind of fell." I blushed.

"You were wall climbing?" Charlie started laughing, making Nessie start laughing again too.

"Hey, it's not funny." I ruffled Nessie's hair and stood up to get a glass of milk.

"So what's Edward doing sleeping on my couch then?" Charlie managed to ask after a couple of minutes.

"He was here when I got back. It seems that certain little girl wanted to sleep in her new bed." I winked at my baby who grinned back. I sat back down and she got on my lap.

"I see. And why did he stay?"

"You'll have to ask him, I honestly have no idea. I really don't understand him anymore. One day he's mad at me and the next he's my best friend."

"Daddy's your best friend mommy? I thought Uncle Jake was." Nessie frowned.

"Uncle Jake is and will always be my best friend baby. Your father's just…well…that's a very complicated subject. I really don't know myself." I sighed as we heard sounds coming from the living room.

Edward was up. He soon walked into the kitchen and looked at the three of us all sitting down having breakfast and he smiled. I wouldn't look at him. As much as his kisses made me feel many things, I didn't know what he meant by them. Was he playing with me? After all, he was getting married. He had a fiancée. He was going back to Chicago in a couple of weeks, so what was he doing here? I wanted answers to my questions. I couldn't keep on just trying to figure out the answers on my own. I needed to hear them from him.

"Hi daddy." Nessie smiled at him.

"Good morning sweetheart. Did you like your new bed?" he got some milk for himself and sat down next to me.

"I loved it. It's so soft and big."

"Excuse me please." Charlie stood up and went upstairs to get dressed I presumed.

"And how did you sleep Bella? How's the arm?" he looked at me. I looked back at him and for a few seconds said nothing. His eyes showed concern, and maybe something else? I wasn't sure.

"Perfectly fine, thank you." I stood up, placing Nessie on Edward's lap, and went to rinse my glass in the sink.

"I guess I should go home. I'll call you later Bella." Edward stood up.

"No daddy, don't leave." Nessie clung to him.

"I have to honey. I'll see you later, I promise." He kissed her head, putting her down.

"You said we would talk today." I turned around and followed him to the living room.

"We can talk later. Bye." He got his keys and walked out the door. I heard his car start and that did it. He had just dismissed me as if nothing had happened the night before. I couldn't believe it. I was beyond angry, mad, pissed at the moment.

"Nessie, I have to go out for while, you're staying with Grandpa Charlie ok?" I said as I ran upstairs to get my coat and some shoes. I didn't even bother changing; I still had the clothes from last night on.

"Dad I'm taking the cruiser, Nessie's staying with you. I'll be back in a few minutes." I yelled at his closed door. I grabbed his keys and walked out the door as I heard him answer "Wait! Bells where are you going?" But I was already getting into his car.

I had never driven the cruiser before. It felt weird, as in a movie. But there were some advantages too, no one would stop me. Who care about speed limits when you were the cop right? I slammed on the gas pedal as much as I could. I knew my way to the Cullen's house and I could drive with one arm so it was no major problem. When I got there, Edward was about to walk into the house. He turned around as soon as he heard the cruiser coming to a stop behind his car. His eyes opened widely when he saw me get down from the car.

"Bella are you crazy!? You have a broken arm." He walked towards me.

"Who cares about that Edward! How dare you walk out on me that way, again! I don't know who you think you are, but you're not the only one who gets to decide what's happening or not with us, not anymore. I may have been a young and naïve girl when we first met, but a long time has passed and I'm not that stupid girl anymore. So you are going to answer my questions now, and I don't care if it works for you or not. I need answers and I'm not waiting until you decide it's the right time to give them to me. You don't get to decide that." I was out of breath. I knew I sounded a bit desperate, but that's how I felt at the moment.

He was just standing there, staring at me, and not saying anything. I took a few steps forward, my right hand balled into a fist. His expression suddenly changed and the pain I saw in his eyes made me take a step back. I sighed and relaxed my hand.

"Speak Edward. Say something." I whispered, closing my eyes.

"I'm sorry." He whispered back and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry? Is that all you've got to say?" I opened my eyes and looked at him. At the man I had swore was my soul mate. I didn't know who the person standing in front of me was anymore.

"What else do you want me to say? I don't know what you want to hear Bella." He raised his hands and then turned around, his back to me.

"Why did you kiss me last night? I want to understand why one day you say horrible things to me and then you go ahead and kiss me and take care of me and even sleep at my house." I touched his shoulder, making him turn around and look at me.

"I don't understand either."

"Edward, that's not an acceptable answer. Stop playing with me. I don't deserve it."

"No, you don't. You're right. I don't know why I kissed you Bella, I really don't. I just…I still feel very protective of you. Not only because you're Nessie's mother, but because you're you. And I just feel I have to make sure you're safe." He touched my face.

"That's not your responsibility Edward, it never was. Not even when we were together. I'm responsible for my own safety. Why won't you give me a straight answer Edward? You left me 7 years ago and now suddenly you're worried about me again?"

"I didn't leave you Bella, I had to move away. That's not the same thing." Edward started walking towards his house again.

"Everything changed after that. You no longer spoke to me. I knew something was wrong, I could hear it in your voice the couple of times we spoke, but you wouldn't open up to me. And then you just stopped calling. You gave up. You gave up on us. At least that's what I felt when that other girl answered your phone." I sighed and he stopped walking.

"What other girl?" he looked at me with honest interest in his eyes.

"I believe her name was Kim, if I remember correctly. After getting your voicemail a million times, and Alice not returning my calls either, I was relieved when I heard someone answer your phone. I was actually calling to let you know you were going to be a father, but the way she talked to you, her drunken voice and your answer, it made me realize something had changed. I did call Edward, I tried to tell you." I felt the tears, but I did nothing to stop them. Remembering those awful moments always made me cry. It was stupid I know, it was all in the past and there was nothing I could do to change it. But it still brought tears to my eyes. Every time.

"I don't even remember who that Kim was. I only remember I went out with Emmet and we got drunk and then something he said pissed me off. I never knew you called." he took a step towards me, but I stepped away from him. So it was true, he had just given up.

"So this confirms what I said before, you just gave up."

"No I didn't. I called you, ask Charlie."

"Yeah, twice. Twice Edward, after everything we had gone through, you thought that was enough? I had my reasons to move to Jacksonville, but I honestly thought you were going to try harder. Thank God Alice didn't give up, she proved to be the best friend I could've wished for. And I will forever be grateful that she forgave me now, because she was the only one to have a reason not to." I started walking back to the cruiser. There was nothing else for me to say. I had gotten my answer. He had just given up on us, and realizing that truth hurt even more than thinking that he had been with someone else. It was as if he had stopped caring about everything.

"No Bella wait. Don't leave like this." He grabbed my arm making me stop. And then he hugged me.

"Let me go Edward. I won't bother you again. Just let me go." I tried to free myself from his arms but he wouldn't bulge. His arms tightened around me.

"I thought I had no right to meddle in your life anymore. I thought that by leaving with my family I had made the choice for both of us. I didn't want to put you through all the long distance relationship bullshit. I was young and stupid and I was assuming I knew how you felt. Now I recognize that was a huge mistake and I'm sorry. But please Bella don't leave like this. I want to be able to be around you, for Nessie's sake. I don't want us to be strangers who happen to share a daughter. I promise I'll be in my best behavior. Come on Bella, we were once friends, we can be that again." He loosened up his grip on me and I what I saw in his eyes made me nod at him. He smiled at me.

"I have to go now. I need to return the cruiser to Charlie before he sends the cops on me." I smiled and got in the car.

"I'll go by later and take Nessie out for an ice cream or something. Drive safely Bella and thank you."

"Bye Edward." I looked at him once more and started driving back home.

I couldn't stop thinking about what I had seen in his eyes just before I left. Edward loved me. I was still too stunned to even react to that, but I was as sure as my own name that what I had seen in his eyes was love. But then, what did that mean? Come on Bella he's getting married, stop having these crazy thoughts. There's no way Edward still loves you, it's been a long time. And yet, I still love him, don't I? Oh this head of mine. This was all very confusing and tiring. And how does his top model fiancée fit in all this?

I didn't know anymore if what I had seen in his eyes was true or just my imagination, but I was sure going to try and find out. I needed a plan. It was time to call Alice.

_**HMM…DO YOU THINK HE STILL LOVES HER OR NOT? WHAT WILL BELLA'S PLAN BE? **__****__** STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT!**_


	13. Chapter 13

**I DONT OWN TWILIGHT OR ITS CHARACTERS**

_**HELLO ALL! OK DON'T KILL ME! I KNOW IT'S TAKING ME FOREVER TO UPDATE BUT I HA**__**D PROBLEMS WITH MY CAR, AND NOW I KIND OF HAVE A NEW BOYFRIEND. AND THEN NEW MOON PREMIERED, WHICH I GUESS WE WERE ALL BUSY WITH…STILL ARE…I WANNA SEE IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER LOL… SO…ANYWAY…HERE'S CH.13, HOPE U LIKE IT! **_

_**AND PLEASE DON'T HATE EDWARD SO MUCH…HE'S COMING AROUND, HE REALLY IS *WINK***_

**CH.****13**

"He did what?!" Alice shrieked over the phone. I had been relaying all that had happened to Alice for the last 30 minutes and she was doing her best not to interrupt, until she couldn't take it anymore.

It's needless to say that I was still pretty confused about what had happened with Edward. I kept replaying yesterday's conversation over and over in my head. It was all so frustrating. One second he didn't want to talk to me at all, even tried to walk into his house a couple of times; and then he was hugging me and begging me not to leave and asking to be friends. I truly didn't understand him.

"I don't care if he's my brother Bella; please tell me you punched him." Alice's voice brought me back to our conversation.

"You know I didn't Alice. I honestly don't know what to do. He came over to pick up Nessie yesterday afternoon, and he acted as if nothing had happened. He was suddenly all friendly and nice. And his eyes Alice, they were smiling the whole time. I hadn't seen him like that in…well…a while. I need to find out what he's really feeling."

"This is important to you, isn't it?"

"Of course it is. I mean, I…"

"You still love him, I know. I can't understand why, but I could tell." She sighed.

"Is it that obvious?"

"No, not really. But I know you and I have a good feeling about all this."

"You do? You think he does love me?" I asked hopefully.

"Well, that's definitely something we need to find out. Give me a few hours and I'll get back to you on that. Gotta go now, Jasper's calling."

"Bye Alice, and thanks." I said before hanging up.

I was actually at the school working that day, but I had taken a break to call Alice. I was really liking my job. It made me think what would happen when Charlie didn't need me around anymore. He had been taking short shifts at the station, but he was fully recovering pretty fast. Soon he would start working long shifts again, and I wasn't sure what Nessie and I would do. It felt horrible to pull her out of school a second time in the middle of the year. I guess I would just have to wait and see.

I had been back home for about two hours when the doorbell rang. Nessie was watching her favorite show on TV so obviously she made no move to go answer it. Of course, it was Edward. Who else could it be?

"Hi Bella." He smiled at me, making me smile back. I couldn't fight that crooked, wonderful smile of his.

"Hey Edward. I didn't know you were coming over. Nessie didn't say anything."

"I know, I should've called. But there's a very annoying little person that insisted we should come see you immediately. So I couldn't say no." he winked at me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well of course he's talking about me, silly. Who else?" Edward moved aside a bit to reveal a smiling and excited Alice behind him.

"Alice! Oh my God you're here!" I yelled as we hugged, Alice being careful with my hurt arm.

"Oh you know me, I couldn't stay away." She winked at me and I instantly knew things were going to work out just fine.

"Not that I'm not happy you're here, but what about Jasper? Is he here too?"

"Nope. But he'll be joining us this weekend for Christmas." She smiled.

"Oh right. It's Christmas already." I had completely forgotten about the Holidays. I had to catch up on my shopping.

We walked inside and Nessie threw herself at Alice as soon as she saw her. Edward just chuckled the whole time. I made coffee for everyone and we just stayed there, talking and laughing like in the old times. Almost.

Before they left, Alice pulled me aside for a minute and whispered to me, "You're right about one thing though, he's smiling too much." She squeezed my hand and then went to say goodbye to Nessie.

I couldn't help but smile. Having Alice here made it all so right. Charlie was just coming in as they were leaving. He hugged Alice and invited her over for dinner the next day. Of course Edward was there, so he kind of had to include him on the invitation. Edward didn't seem to mind at all.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." He smiled at me.

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for bringing Alice over." I smiled at him.

"As if she wouldn't have found a way to come over no matter what. But I'm glad I did. It's always nice to see you happy."

"I am happy. Thank you."

"Bye Bella." He touched my face briefly and then walked away.

"Bye Edward." I whispered to myself.

Ok so I wasn't really surprised to see Alice in my kitchen the next morning having breakfast with Charlie, but wasn't it a bit too early? Even for her?

"Oh good, you're up. I was going to go wake you up in five minutes." She giggled.

"Morning to you too Alice. Hey dad." I said to both of them.

"Morning Bells. See you tonight Alice." Charlie said and left for work.

"You have 15 minutes to get dressed." She looked at me seriously.

"Why? Where are we going?" I should've known what her answered would be.

"Silly Bella, we're going shopping, of course."

"Shopping. Right." I sighed.

"Well, I kind of noticed you forgot all about Christmas so we're taking care of that first. You know, before we start planning all the ways in which you're going to seduce my stupid brother." She winked naughtily.

"Alice! I. Am. Not. Seducing. Your. Brother." I knew my face must've been the reddest ever. Seducing Edward had never crossed my mind. Alice was a dangerous little pixie!

I was so exhausted at the end of the day that I completely passed out on the couch when Alice dropped me off back home. I didn't even hear Charlie get home. Edward had picked up Nessie from school and she was coming over with him and Alice for dinner. Charlie didn't wake me up, but you'll never guess who did.

"Umm…Bella? Bella?" I opened my eyes to find Paul looking down at me. I immediately sat up, feeling a little bit disoriented. What was Paul doing there?

"Hi Paul." I finally managed.

"Hey. Charlie let me in. I just wanted to know how you're doing, you know, with the arm and everything." He pointed at my cast.

"Oh this. Well, it hasn't been so bad actually. It's a bit uncomfortable for certain type of movements and when I need to grab something with both hands, but aside from that, I'm doing ok. Thanks for coming over Paul, you didn't have to." I smiled at him.

"Of course I did, it was my fault this happened to you. It's the least I could do." He took my good hand in his and smiled at me.

I smiled back. It pained me that I would have to hurt Paul, but my heart had decided and there was nothing I could do about it. We were distracted by Charlie coming down the stairs.

"Hey Bells, I hope you don't mind but I invited Paul to stay over for dinner. I figured since we're already having guests over, one more is no trouble." He winked at me.

"Sure." Great, now what was I going to do? Paul and Edward at the same table? That was sure not going to end well. And Alice, oh that little pixie I was sure was going to make things even worse. I sighed and got up from the couch. It was time to start getting everything ready.

Paul settled down in the living room with Charlie to watch a game while I started cooking dinner. I was making pasta, easy, fun and enough for everyone. After setting up the table I went up to my room to change. I was smelling like garlic and pasta sauce, not nice. As I was coming down the stairs, the front door opened and in came Alice, Edward and my baby girl. They were all laughing about something when suddenly Edward stopped and stared into the living room. Yeah, here we go, I thought.

"Paul." Was all he said, his mouth in a tight line.

"Cullen. Hey Nessie, nice to see you again." Paul smiled at her. Nessie smiled back, but walked past them towards me.

"Hi mommy." She hugged me.

"Hey baby, did you have fun with daddy and Aunt Alice?" I asked her, avoiding every other pair of eyes in the room.

"Yes we did mommy, but I'm so hungry!" she giggled.

"Yeah, she couldn't stop talking about how much she was going to eat tonight. It seems you're still a wonderful cook Bella." Alice winked at me.

"Yeah I guess. Oh, Alice this is Paul, Paul this is Alice Cullen, Edward's sister and my best friend." I smiled at her.

"Nice to meet you Alice." Paul shook her hand.

"I hope you guys don't mind, but I invited Paul over to dinner. So since we're already here, let's get this show on the road. I'm starving." Charlie said walking past all of us into the kitchen.

Edward grunted and followed him, not even looking at me once. As I was getting the pasta ready to serve on the table, I could hear chairs moving and people sitting down. When I turned around I found Charlie sitting on one end of the table, with Paul to his left. Alice was sitting next to Paul, with Edward on her other side and Nessie right next to him. The only empty chair was between Charlie and Nessie and in front of Paul. I figured that would work. I tried to avoid Edward's eyes while I served the pasta into every bowl.

When I was about to sit down, Nesside decided she didn't want to sit where she was anymore.

"No mommy, I wanna be next to Grandpa Charlie. You sit here next to daddy." She got into the chair next to Charlie, leaving me no choice but to sit next to Edward. He chuckled as I settled down and then everyone started eating.

After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence, Alice spoke.

"So Paul, I heard you met Bella through Jacob Black?"

"Yes, he's one of my best friends. We grew up together on the Res." Paul smiled at her.

"Is he still as reckless as I remember him? He used to get into all sorts of crazy stuff like bike riding and cliff diving."

"No, I mean, we're a lot more responsible now."

"Hardly." Edward whispered, but I guess everyone heard.

"What was that Edward?" Charlie asked raising his eyebrows.

I opened my eyes widely at him, warning him not to say anything else. Charlie knew why my arm was in a cast, but he had no idea the famous stuff the Res guys were famous in Forks for. It was better he stayed oblivious to all that or he would flip and next we knew he would involve Billy and make a big deal out of it.

"Nothing Charlie. Don't worry about it." Edward winked at me. I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"So Bella, I was wondering if you have any free time this weekend we could maybe get together with the guys again." Paul said breaking another uncomfortable silent moment.

"Umm…."

"You can't mommy, Aunt Alice is here and we have girl plans." Nessie answered for me. I stared at her, my mouth hanging open. What was that pixie friend of mine putting into my little girl's head? I looked at Alice and she just smiled, looking down. So this was all part of her plan? I felt totally lost. This was so not fair.

"Bella?" Paul asked, still waiting for an answer.

"If you wanna go out with Paul Bella, I'm sure Alice and Nessie can reschedule their plans for when you're available." Edward said seriously. I couldn't believe what he had just said. He was the last person at that table whom I expect would want me to go out with Paul. Was he testing me? I glared at him for a second before turning around and addressing Paul.

"Sure Paul, just let me know what you guys plan on doing. Remember about my arm ok?" I smiled at him.

"Great Bells!" he smiled back at me.

I was cleaning up the dishes and trying to still figure out what had just happened, when I felt Alice standing behind me. She squeezed my hand, making me turn around. Stupid me, as always, there were tears in my eyes.

"Don't mind me. I'm just being my idiot self as always." I sighed and squeezed her hand back.

"I swear Bella, my brother's stupid. Even Nessie can understand what's going on." She crossed her arms.

"Oh believe me Alice, he knows what's going on. He just chooses not to be a part of it. Even if his eyes are telling me otherwise. Or maybe I'm just imagining everything and he really doesn't care."

"He cares Bella, I know Edward. This is really hard for him. Remember he's engaged and well, I guess he also feels he has no right to get involved in your life anymore."

"He said he wanted us to be friends. I guess this is what friends do, huh?"

"I guess. Come on, let's see what they're doing." Alice put her arm around my waist and we walked out of the kitchen together.

They guys were all watching a football game, while Nessie had fallen asleep on top of Charlie. I picked her up and carried her up to her room. When I got back downstairs, the game was over and Paul said goodbye. He promised to call soon to set up our new date. A date I was so no looking forward to.

Alice left next, stating that Esme had called her and she needed to go help her with something at home. It was obvious she was leaving Edward alone with me. And that's exactly what happened when Charlie suddenly said he was tired and went up to bed. I got two mugs and poured Edward and I some coffee.

"Here, no sugar." I handed him one of the mugs as we sat out on the porch.

"Thanks Bella, this smells wonderful." He smiled taking the mug from my hand.

We sat there for a few minutes not saying anything. Then I felt his hand getting a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I closed my eyes for a second, enjoying the sensation and opened my eyes slowly to find him looking at me intensely.

"Are you cold?" he asked when I shivered.

"No, I'm fine. Why do you want me to go out with Paul, Edward?"

"I just want you to have fun." He looked away. Why couldn't he just say what he felt? Was it so difficult? So wrong?

"I see. Well, I'm not sure I'll be having that much fun with this thing on my arm."

"I'll ask dad if he can take it off sooner. That way you'll be able to do more stuff."

"I don't want to do more stuff Edward, not if it means my arm won't heal ok. So that's not even an option. I just don't understand you."

"What is it that you don't understand Bella?" he turned towards me.

"You're attitude, that's what I don't understand. One minute you look at me in this deep way and then the next you want me just to go have fun? With some other guy?"

"Bella, you don't understand…"

"Yeah, you bet I don't." I sighed getting up, "Edward, I don't think this 'friends' thing is going to work. Not like this."

"What do you mean? I've been behaving pretty good with you and Nessie, haven't i?" he stood up in front of me.

"Yes you have."

"Then why won't it work? Why won't you give it a chance? Or is it that you just want me out of your life completely? Cause I know I deserve it Bella, but I'm trying…"

"Edward, shut the hell up." I said before kissing him. I could see I had surprised him with that kiss. I had never been the one to make the first move every time we had kissed. This was something new and surprising, even for me. I hadn't planned it. I just couldn't help myself when he started rambling like that. He looked so vulnerable.

He broke the kiss a few minutes later and rested his forehead on mine. He sighed and I was afraid to open my eyes. I knew I had taken a risk kissing him, but I needed to know how he truly felt.

"I can't believe you just did that."

"Why?"

"I thought you didn't…after all I've done, how can you still…oh Bella." He hugged me so tightly I couldn't breathe.

"Because it's you Edward. It's always been you." I said as his lips descended on mine again.

_**SO LET ME KNOW WHAT U THINK!!! **_


	14. Author's Note

_HELLO EVERYONE! I'VE BEEN RECEIVING MAILS FROM SOME OF YOU ASKING ME IF I'M GOING TO CONTINUE MY STORY…..YES, I WILL FINISH IT, BUT SADLY I HAVE TO PUT IT TEMPORARILY ON HOLD FOR SOME TIME. __I'M WORKING FULL TIME NOW AND GOING TO CLASSES AT NIGHT SO I REALLY DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME ANYMORE TO KEEP ON WRITING. WHEN IM DONE WITH MY CLASSES (AROUNG THE END OF MAY) I'LL HAVE TIME TO CONTINUE WRITING. SO PLEASE HANG IN THERE!!!_

_THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND ALL YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!_


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